Tonnes of cannabis arriving from Thailand has emerged as the latest threat to local growers as calls for the government to intervene continue to rise – as yet to no avail.
From just 11kg in 2023 – the latest data available – the volume of Thai-grown flower being shipped to Australia has exploded this year.
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Great article. However, my understanding is that Thailand growers do not hold formal cultivation licences. As a result, Germany does not accept Thai flower, citing concerns that the legal and black markets cannot be reliably separated. While Thailand is attempting to address this, the situation highlights an inequity: Australian growers are funding the ODC via licence and permit fees, yet the ODC facilitates imports without imposing any import fees. There is also an irony in the argument that importing Thai flower — produced by highly productive workers earning just $454 per month, or around 10% of the Australian horticulture award and likely not a living wage — is considered a positive step simply because it lowers costs for relatively affluent Australian patients.