Li Zhiyang: Stories on the streets of Bangkok

Reporter's note

When traveling in Bangkok, Thailand, I can always smell an unclear odor on the streets, a bit like pungent chemicals, and there are second -hand smoke similar to unwillingness.Walking in the bar street and nightclub area full of tourists, this taste is even more nasal.

One day I couldn't help asking the locals.Among them, a group of young men and women wearing fashionable and full -handed tattoos responded: "This is the flavor of marijuana, don't you know that Thailand has legalized marijuana? Have you ever tried it?"The marijuana sales store of green leaves seems to want to remind me that this is not a joke.

As a journalist, of course, I know that Thailand can now legally consume marijuana, but for the first time, I smelled the smell of marijuana, and my heart was inevitable.After all, Singapore has a long time to look at drug problems seriously.

Looking at the above -mentioned groups of people who are strange to marijuana, and marijuana shops that are easy to find on the street, I can't help feeling that marijuana is flooding in Thailand.Although the Thai government has not fully allowed the leisure use of cannabis to be legalized, including the prohibition of selling to those under the age of 21, the roots that have been buried for many years will be a timing bomb that affects social stability for many years.

Remember the photos of taking cannabis on the Internet on the Internet on the Internet?Perhaps it is an alarm bell.

The data from the Nikkei Asia last month quoted the Ministry of Health of Thailand. Before the legalization of marijuana last year, Thailand recorded 72 cannabis addiction cases per month, but suddenly increased to 282 after June.For example, more than four times.At the same time, Thais who are addicted to cannabis reported that the number of mental patients who needed severe care for severe care was reported to be about 17%, a five -year high.

Medical experts warned that over -absorbing cannabis can lead to drug -based mental illness, and long -term adopors have been found to have learning impairment, memory recession, and even cancer.

However, in the eyes of some people in Thailand, these disadvantages and risks are not enough to scare them away from marijuana.The operators who run cannabis retail stores in Bangkok told me: "The government's legalization of marijuana is the correct policy. The tourism industry is bleak due to the epidemic, and many people have lost their jobs.Income. "

The Thai National Daily reported in early January this year that the annual annual income of Thai people in 2021 was 232,2176 baht, that is, the average daily salary of about 636 baht.This means that as long as three brownie is sold every day, the revenue of the industry will be higher than that of ordinary Thai people, not to mention that it is a cannabis tobacco that starts from 500 baht.

For some people, this is nothing more than a game of morality and money. In the past three years, Thailand, which has been severely damaged due to the epidemic in the past three years, chose the latter.For Singapore, which has always adhered to the "zero tolerance" attitude towards drugs, this obviously has no room for concession.The past empirical and experience of Singapore clearly shows that the abuse of drug abuse, including marijuana, will not be effectively controlled, and various related criminal problems will also be out of control.This cost is not measured by money.

In the evening before leaving Bangkok, I was sitting on the streets blocked by Bangkok. When I drove through a row of snack stalls, there was a strong odor in the air, but I couldn't tellIt is clear whether it is the flavor of marijuana or the taste of food.Seeing that there are roadside stalls to sell marijuana, there is an indescribable taste in my heart.

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