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A Japanese tourist reaches into a baggie of cannabis he has just bought in a central Bangkok weed shop, pulling out a gram of buds to chop down in a small black grinder, before rolling them neatly into a joint.
Only the slight spillage onto the smoking lounge’s table – and his cough as he lights up and inhales deeply – betray the fact that until two weeks ago, he had never tried marijuana.
“I was curious about how I would feel after smoking,” says the 42-year-old tourist, who spoke on condition that his name not be used, for fear his experimentation in Bangkok could lead to legal issues at home. “I wonder why Japan bans it?” he ponders. “I wanted to try it.”
Even as more countries around the world legalise marijuana, Thailand has been the outlier in Asia, where several countries still have the death penalty for some cannabis offences. Singapore has already executed two people this year for trafficking marijuana and its Central Narcotics Bureau has announced plans to randomly test people returning from Thailand.
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