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Asia
亞洲版塊
Cooking with cannabis
大麻烹飪
Pot cuisine
鍋煮菜肴
THC is the new MSG
THC是新的味精
BAN LAO RUENG does not resemble a den of iniquity.
班老榮格不像一個藏污納垢之地。
A two-hour drive from Bangkok, the Thai capital, the restaurant caters to families and old folk.
這家餐廳距離泰國首都曼谷兩小時車程，餐廳主要服務家庭和老人。
Gauzy curtains frame the windows and doilies decorate bags of cookies on sale at the counter.
窗戶上掛著薄紗窗簾，柜臺上出售的餅干袋上裝飾著小墊子。
The menu features such classics as tom yumsoup and khanom pang na moo(crispy pork toast).
菜單上有湯姆·尤姆蘇普和卡農·龐納穆（脆豬肉吐司）等經典菜肴。
Yet a closer look reveals the presence of an illicit ingredient: cannabis.
然而，仔細觀察就會發現一種非法成分的存在：大麻。
Illicit, that is, until recently.
之前非法，也就是說，最近合法了。
For decades Thailand, like many other Asian countries, harshly punished anyone caught with the demon weed.
幾十年來，泰國和其他許多亞洲國家一樣，嚴懲任何與惡魔草有關的人。
But the government has turned over a new leaf.
但政府已經翻開了新的一頁。
In 2019 the country became the first in Asia to legalise pot for medical purposes.
2019年，該國成為亞洲第一個將大麻用于醫療目的合法化的國家。
A year later the government announced that parts of the plant containing less than 0.2% THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, could legally be used in cosmetics and food.
一年后，政府宣布，大麻中的精神活性化合物THC含量低于0.2%的部分植物可合法用于化妝品和食品中。
In November last year Ban Lao Rueng became the first restaurant in the country to serve cannabis-infused dishes.
去年11月，班老榮格成為該國第一家提供含大麻菜肴的餐廳。
At least a dozen more have since sprung up.
此后，至少又出現了十幾家。
What accounts for the reversal?
是什么導致了這種逆轉？
There is growing awareness in government that Thailand's punitive drug-control regime is ineffective.
政府越來越意識到泰國懲罰性的藥物管制制度是無效的。
Relaxing cannabis laws was also politically expedient.
放松大麻法律在政治上也是權宜之計。
In order to make up the numbers to form a coalition, Thailand’s ruling party needed the support of Anutin Charnvirakul, the leader of a small party that campaigned to have the green stuff partially decriminalised.
為了獲得足夠的票數組成政治聯盟，泰國執政黨需要阿努丁·查恩維拉庫的支持。查恩維拉庫是一個小黨派的領導人，該政黨致力于讓綠色材料部分合法化。
He was appointed deputy prime minister and health minister, and allowed to keep his promise.
他被任命為副總理和衛生部長，并且他被允許去履行諾言。
There is a long tradition in Thailand of cooking with cannabis.
泰國有著用大麻烹飪的悠久傳統。
Thais began mixing the plant, which is native to Asia, into herbal remedies and then food centuries ago.
幾百年前，泰國人開始將這種原產于亞洲的植物混合到草藥和食品中。
Even after it was criminalised in 1934, many Thais carried on cooking with it.
即使在1934年它被定非法后，許多泰國人仍繼續用它做飯。
Chakree Lapboonruang, a 30-something Bangkokian, says his father regularly tossed cannabis leaves into the pad gaprao(basil chicken stir-fry) he cooked for the family.
查克雷（一個30多歲的孟加拉人）說，他的父親經常把大麻葉扔進他為家人做的pad gaprao（羅勒雞炒菜）。
"When you have something tasty, [cannabis] makes it better," Mr Chakree says.
查克雷先生說：“當你吃到可口的東西時，大麻會讓它變得更好。
"It's just like MSG, except it's natural."
它就像味精，只是它是天然的。”
Food-and-drink companies are seeing green.
食品和飲料公司看到了商機。
In April Ichitan, Thailand’s biggest teamaker, launched two drinks infused with terpene, a compound responsible for cannabis’s pong.
今年4月，泰國最大的飲品制造商Ichitan推出了兩種含有萜烯的飲料，萜烯是一種與大麻相互作用的化合物。
The Pizza Company, a Thai fast-food chain, recently introduced "Crazy Happy Pizza"; its toppings include one deep-fried cannabis leaf.
泰國快餐連鎖比薩餅公司最近推出了“狂歡比薩餅”；它的配料包括一片油炸大麻葉。
Weed is good for business, says Mr Chakree, an owner of Kiew Kai Ka, a trendy restaurant in Bangkok.
查克雷先生是曼谷一家時尚餐廳Kiew Kai Ka的老板，他說，大麻對生意有好處。
There is not enough THC in the food to make people high.
食物中的THC含量不足以使人興奮。
Yet when customers eat dishes from his restaurant’s cannabis menu, he laughs, they "get hungrier".
然而，他笑著說，當顧客吃到餐館大麻菜單上的菜時，他們“變得更餓了”。
