Cannabis rollback drives a wedge into Thailand's ruling coalition

BANGKOK -- The ruling Pheu Thai party's effort to relist cannabis as a narcotic this month has emerged as a public disagreement with its largest coalition partner, Bhumjaithai, the party that led the charge to decriminalize marijuana two years ago, as the government seeks to regulate the substance without handicapping a nascent industry and medicinal users.

Ahead of a narcotics control board meeting at the end of the month, the Ministry of Public Health recommended returning cannabis to the Category 5 list of controlled substances. Category 5 substances include psychotropic mushrooms and opium.