Thailand: A Fast-Food Chain Uses Cannabis Leaves to Top Their Pizzas
One of the major fast-food chains in Thailand has introduced a new product—Crazy Happy Pizza—which is available in all its establishments across the country. Its most striking feature is a huge cannabis leaf that just about covers a single-serving pizza. Besides this deep-fried crunchy treat on top, the pizza has other cannabis-infused ingredients, such as its cheese crust and the dipping sauce served along with it.
The Hippy Trail travelers of old may remember certain parlors in Phnom Penh, the capital of neighboring Cambodia, where pizzas were spiked with the most powerful of the local heirloom cannabis.
But The Pizza Company’s offerings aren’t anywhere the same. The general manager, Panusak Suensatboon, explained that you can’t get high on their Crazy Happy Pizza. Although, if you overindulge, you might feel a bit sleepy.
A Middling Success So Far
The innovative pizza remains an under-the-radar product on the menu. Local regulations expressly forbid advertising it openly, and you can’t sell it to anyone under 12. (We wonder what the science is behind this age restriction.) All this made the sales promotion rather lackluster.
According to Panusak, after the Crazy Happy Pizza campaign has run its course, they will have to destroy about a fifth of all cannabis leaves that they had bought. The lack of success didn’t surprise the management because they had known all along that the market in Thailand wasn’t ready for this.
Nevertheless, they have no regrets about trying. The goal of the promo was to be the first to incorporate the controversial plant into the fast-food business.
A Virtuous Circle of Normalization
The reason that it became even possible to decorate food with cannabis in Thailand was the ongoing liberalization of its cannabis laws.
The government intends to make the country the main hub of medical marijuana in South-East Asia and a tourist destination for those who are interested in both traditional eastern medicine and state-of-the-art cannabinoid treatment. There are even plans to open an international medical cannabis research center here.
Recent legislation also allowed to put hemp, marijuana’s non-psychoactive counterpart, in food and beverages. And initiatives, like that of The Pizza Company, to capitalize on the trendy topic will surely lead to the cannabis plant and its products being viewed more and more as something normal and even mainstream.
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