What do they think about Cannabis: A deep dive into feelings and opinions of consumers from the Netherlands and newly legalized Thailand

Room 2 | 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm | Thursday, May 4, 2023

Presentation of research that Savelsberg Research together with his local Thai research partner conducted with Thai and Dutch nationals living in their respective countries. We asked them about the online and offline media landscape for news in their country. We focused on cannabis: what do they know about regulations on cannabis use in their country? How did they get informed about this and is their opinion/perception on cannabis use and regulations?

Cannabis was decriminalized by the Thai Government on June 9, 2022. For now, policy and rules are not clear set and uncontrolled sales of cannabis for recreational takes place in Thailand. In The Netherlands there has been a cannabis toleration policy since 1976 where consumers can possess up to five grams of marihuana or maximum five cannabis plants. Coffeeshops can sell small quantities of soft drugs without being prosecuted.

This is a truly intercultural exploration that deep dives into cultural differences between the Netherlands and Thailand but also very much into how the two different nationalities got informed about the rules and regulations of cannabis use in their country and what their opinion about this is. This study will be only a first snapshot of this theme that consisted of ten (online) in-depth interviews with Dutch nationals and ten (online) in-depth interviews with Thai nationals.

Key takeaways:

• Truly international qualitative research.
• Insight into cultural differences between Netherlands and Thailand.
• How do consumers in both countries get informed about news and what are their opinions and feelings towards cannabis use.