When Thailand decided to legalize all marijuana outside of refined oils a month and a half ago, most of the sensible people of the world rejoiced. For people who think as I do, it makes absolutely no sense that a plant that gets you high would be illegal, sometimes carrying jail-time with having it, and a liquid that basically does exactly the same thing is available in every store and is not only not illegal, but it's use is advertised and encouraged. I'm talking about alcohol of course.
Thailand does not allow the exportation of the mary jane that is sold here, but you can transport it the same way that you could booze including on commercial airplanes. There is really nowhere that you can't bring the stuff even though there are some loosely-enforced restrictions on where it can be smoked that is similar to where you can smoke cigarettes. Since I can't stand cigarettes being smoked around me I was all for this ruling.
Things seemed to be going very well. People are making money, there hasn't been a rise in crime and there has actually been a decrease in the level of road deaths and while I have no proof of this, I think it might because people that are stoned tend to drive very cautiously whereas drunk people seem to drive with reckless abandon.
I haven't ever heard of countries testing people for having used drugs at some point in the recent past but I was already very aware of the fact that Malaysia is pretty hardcore when it comes to drug use in their country.
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The few times I have been to Malaysia I remember seeing giant signs warning incoming visitors that drug possession is grounds for the death penalty in that country. There are multiple films made about this exact scenario and some of them are true. Return to Paradise starring Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix is one of the more memorable ones. Basically, Malaysia doesn't fuck around when it comes to drugs and this is the exact opposite of how Thailand feels, at least as far as marijuana is concerned.
A group of Thai people were visiting Malaysia for some undisclosed reason when they were detained by police and then held without charges until the submitted to a drug test. These people were not smuggling anything, they didn't have any drugs on them, they were simply targeted for drug testing to see if they had been using marijuana in the recent past. They all tested positive for trace amounts and were fined 50,000 Baht (around $1600) and held in jail for 3 days.
It is my understanding that Malaysians are subjected to rules of this sort such as being tested for drugs upon returning to their country - I have no idea if this is true but I do know that Sharia Law is a big part of society in Malaysia and from what I know it is meant to apply only to citizens of Malaysia for the most part. However, this seems like a violation of international law to punish someone who is a not a citizen of your country for doing something that isn't illegal in their home country, especially if they aren't smuggling anything but rather, just used it somewhere that it is not illegal.
It remains to be seen if this will be a widespread thing because if it is, it could have very serious ramifications for Malaysia since a lot of people frequently travel between the two bordering countries. God help anyone that intentionally or accidentally brings weed into Malaysia. They still have a mandatory death penalty in place for possession over 200 grams - which is a lot so I don't think that anyone would be able to claim "oh no, I forgot that was in my bag!"
Thus far Thailand authorities have not spoken about this issue involving the 3 Thai men and I doubt that they will. I don't think this is necessarily a Malaysian rule but more likely, just a few border cops looking to pad their own pockets with payoff money.
Either way, it is something to be worried about. If you are smoking or using weed in Thailand and your next destination is Malaysia, be warned!
Hopefully Marijuana can be legalized even though it is still limited to medical needs because if viewed in general it will be dangerous in my opinion.
Now I know where not to go~ GI Joe!~ :)
Thats really too much drama for some weed. If people only knew alcohol and cigarettes are actually way worse than weed.
Great post on informing us.
I agree that weed vilification is a bit silly when you look at the bigger picture. I don't use it often because I don't really like the buzz but who am I to tell people what they can't do especially if I have a shot of jack with a beer chaser in front of me at the time.
A shot of Jack with a beer chaser~~~ You must be havin good times. I upvote good time at 100%. :) Keep on chuggin~
oh and sorry if it sounded like a was making alcohol a bad rep. i didn't mean that... but what i really meant is that there are lots of worse example out there and cops wasting time regulating grass.... I dont know...
does that sound logical to anyone??
regulating natural organic grass that just grows anywhere you place it. There is a reason why they call it "weed".
and cops harassing people who have some grass.... The taxes there can be much better spent than paying cops to do that.
They should buy some much needed HBD~ ! and now its on sale!! :)
well i don't think you were bagging on alcohol but I think almost all of us know at at least one person who has totally ruined their lives with booze. I know some people that are a bit slow because of a lot of weed, but it hasn't upended their lives or anything.
The main thing I like about weed is the calming effect. I've seen tons of people get violent on booze, never because they smoked too much. They just get a pizza and go home...
Kind of screwed up system if you ask me as what one does across the border should not apply to another country as the rules are different. Maybe you are right and it is just a bunch of corrupt cops looking for easy money.
I think the border has been a bit tense at times in the past since the stuff that takes place in Thailand is considered immoral in much of Malaysia but yes, this sounds like a serious violation of privacy and just rights in general.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
Dear @jack.russelle, we need your help!
The Hivebuzz proposal already got important support from the community. However, it lost its funding a few days ago and only needs a few more HP to get funded again.
May we ask you to support it so our team can continue its work this year?
You can do it on Peakd, ecency,
https://peakd.com/me/proposals/199
Your support would be really appreciated.
Thank you!
It wasn't that many years ago I that I remember the Thai authorities raiding night clubs and urine testing everyone, hauling ganja smokers off to jail, etc. Now look how the turntables ....
yes, what a wonderful about face. They still raid clubs though, but now to check for ya-ba or meth.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
To be fair, the caution applies to other neighboring countries as well. Thailand is the only place in SEA that's actually safe to smoke weed and I don't think there's a sign any neighboring countries would follow which is pretty sad. I am not a weed smoker but I follow the topic for its medical use and how people in some countries totally ban even THC and simple stuff like Kratom😅
funny you would mention kratom because that is still illegal if I am thinking of the correct plant. I have never tried it but I do know that it is popular and available everywhere. That's the plant that serves as an amphetamine of sorts, right?