HEMP and CANNABIS
Bangkok, Thailand – A thriving metropolis - Home to over 10 million people. Plagued by recent Anti-government protests, the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown and a slumping economy without tourism. Its also the 1st country in SE Asia to legalize cannabis for medical use. The cannabis plant was a primary multipurpose crop grown for 12,000 years for its fiber and medical uses, but its has been restricted for less than 100 years. Its cultivated under strict Thai government control. Today the commercial interest in Cannabis related food and drinks has become popular in Thailand. How does the use of Cannabis effect the minds and lives of people?
Patrick (Colorado, U.S.A. Web designer)
P: What’s the purpose of taking them? I think like any, any things you pretty much consume especially psychoactive drug, I think the purpose is to either relax to have interests inside to your mind, to you known like social lubricant, uhm, to learn more about the nature of consciousness, and the natural of life and reality. I think more than anything smoking weed or eat consuming weed or having CBD to get rid of pain or relax, or just kind or you know explore the nature of your mind.
S: So how often you take marijuana?
P: I said it depends on the week. Uhm, on the normal week these days, it probably a maximum once, I said probably a year ago, it was average about five times a week. Uhm, I think it definitely does have addictive component to it, were you desire the you know the relaxing feeling, the interesting conversation of incites you have of your life, Uhm, yap I consume now probably no more than one every or two or three weeks.
But how does it make me feel? Uhm, I think it made me feel, everyone is different, everyone has different set and setting, kind of your mind set and setting you around. But hum, you known if you smoke a joint you tent to feel kind of relax, you kind of feel have a lot of interesting thoughts going through your mind, it like social lubricant, so depend on who you are, some people become more reclusive, other people become more open. Uhm, CBD on the other hand isn’t psychoactive, so people tense to use it for their own subject experience not necessary to have deep and interesting conversation.
I think life is a lot of mystery, I think there are so much unknown about existence, what the nature reality is, your consciousness, Uhm, I think the idea of spirituality is kind of human’s way of connecting to something beyond ourselves, something to get the sense of meaning and purpose, and a place for us to have some role within, you know how you see life and your place in it.
Well, I ate about 2/3, maybe 3 quarter of this bag of popcorn. And I had entire of this cup of tea, and it had been about 40 mins, and I don’t feel anything, and I won’t expect of feeling anything. Because it is CBD, which isn’t psychoactive.
Tim (California, U.S.A. Artist)
T: Is this one strong?
W: Yes….
T: What about these ones?
W: These ones strong.
T: Strong also?
W: Yeah.
T: Maybe I’ll will try that one next time.
T: Well, the first time somebody try marijuana specifically you know THC marijuana, not CBD, it can be a very intoxicating hallucinogenic experience, for some people to get really paranoid and really anxious, but after somebody consuming marijuana on the regular basic, somewhat of the regular basic either every day or you know few times a week. It starts to have a similar effect to somebody, you know would experience level pf strength of effective drinking one or two beer for example, doesn’t feel like alcohol, but it’s the level of intoxication it given you.
S: Do you think marijuana is drug?
T: Well, it is very, it can be a controversial topic. But in the same way the nicotine which you know naturally exist in tobacco is consider the drug. I think THC is a drug also, CBD is a drug also. Any substance has psychoactive effect on people’s body chemistry when they consume it is a drug. It is definition is a drug.
This tea I am drinking right now has CBD solution putting inside of it. And it has a calming effect, I could equate it to how you feel after you having a very good message for one hour. It is no way to debilitating or intoxicating, you could equate you know just a little bit sleepy, but it is about it. As far as THC goes it can affect peoples in bunch of different way, low doses can made people giggly, happy, more outgoing and feel like they are enjoy being themselves, but high doses of THC could made people incredible paranoid, anxious made people feel something bad is going to happen, or can just made you go to sleep for a longtime. It is different for everybody.
With CBD product becoming really availably now, commercially, legally in many countries around the world. Uhm, more people are trying marijuana which is good, but people are not very familiar with different script CBD and THC. THC is what get you intoxicative is what has psychoactive effect, well CBD has slice psychoactive effect but more calming, and two are not equal anyway.
Than Rittiphan (Bangkok, Thailand, Political active):
T: My name is Than Rittiphan, I used to be a political active in Thailand, during the coup. For me currently, I used at least, roughly a once or twice a week for my sleeping, so currently I use cannabis simply for purpose of sleeping as medicinal purpose. I think my reaction, my opposite form other people, most of the people because I get sleepy, then I just go to sleep, I don’t get hungry, I don’t get paranoid or shaking or anything like that. I get really sleepy and I just go to sleep, go to bed, simple.
I don’t think cannabis is a drug. If you really look back in to our history, the reason that cannabis is illegal in Thailand, it was to make a market, to allow in to a market for British opium to be furnished in Thailand. Another reason was the majority consumption of cannabis was a more of the working class in Thailand the peasantry the ethnic minority, the AKA indigenous people who use cannabis as a medicine, medicinal and recreational purpose. And it get popular during the Vietnam War, so the Nixon administration(Presidency of Richard Nixon) has used, has demonize cannabis simply to allows for another kind of trade as alcohol and cigarette from USA to be more profitable in Thailand.
Uhm, I will say medical used, purely medical used because I don’t have fun or laugh, or anything anymore after took it for so long. So just use it for sleeping and in sometimes I got high anxiety. Yes, I used it. It helps me, giving me a good concentration because I personally have ADHD, I have attention deficit disorder, so I have problem to focus on things, even though reading and studying, and after I took it before I sleep, the next day I work up, I work up with full charged. And my mentality improved so I could study better, I could understand the subject better, this is for me personally. I am actually graduated because of my using of cannabis during the times when I was in the university.
I would say the states of cannabis in Thailand at this moment, because the its simply that the law were very selected and still discriminate against THC. Even though in conditionally the products for the cannabis as the cannabis tea, cannabis food, in foods very popular in Thailand. And we start service it in market, but it ending up as small, only the small group of company, and the big company would have the right to grow cannabis and sale it. And cannabis in Thailand currently still under the monopoly the government. So, if you grow cannabis in Thailand, everything you earn have to sell back to government which we create the loophole and loophole for corruption that if you want to get, to be allow to grown cannabis, you might ending up to pay under table money to the official to grant the license to grown. So… and this system is happened by design of currently the Thai junta run the country alongside the government collaboration.
Lindsay Muro (Duncan, B.C. Canada, Teacher)
L: Ok, Singha one for now.
S: When is the first time your experience of taking marijuana? Yes, first time of taking marijuana.
L: Well, I was around 14 years old and it was with my mother. She was like Hippie and grew, she has huge, huge acreage and growing weed. So, it was really normal among, you know, my friends, hum in a small town we grown up in, it was completely normal. All our parent smoked weed. So, my first time I smoked weed with my mom, it was nice and it was relaxing.
Well, actually interestingly living in Asia for so long, Japan, Thailand. I haven’t smoke for years and years and years, and only recently during the pandemic did I started, for relaxation, for fun. Some of my friends do, and we started gradually now a couple times a week, depending on like if I have source to get some, why not, but yap, you known we started young and it is part of my life going on, hippie parents and hippie community. But hum…. Now a day is not so often, but yap and recent, a pandemic thing.
S: How do your brain and your body feel on THC smoking marijuana?
L: Like I said, under, you just feel more relax, you can feel more creative. Hum, you can like have high concentration level which you can concentrate and zone into something, you know like writing or painting, something creative, so, yap, I said highly creativity, feel relax.
P: I think we are at the interesting time and history where hum you know drug are bidden to be more regulated and decriminalizing, and I think the we began to realize as the clip of the society around the globe, that the worse of drug are massive of failing, I think you have the places like US that now legalize medical used and recreation used, I think there are 36 of states are legalize the recreation used of cannabis. I think that massive of positive society of life and happiness.