Notice from FDA quickest way to legalise marijuana, says GPO chairman

By The Nation

 

File photo. // AFP PHOTO

 

THAILAND WILL be able to start using marijuana to treat medical conditions from January onwards, if the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation’s (GPO) suggestion is taken up.

 

Marijuana has until now been considered a narcotic, with possession and use considered criminal and punishable by a jail term.

 

 

However, authorities have lately concluded that patients can benefit from marijuana, whose extracts can be used to treat various diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer.

 

Several draft laws have been prepared to legalise marijuana for medical use, but that might not be the best approach to give patients access to its medical ingredients.

 

“The fastest way to deliver marijuana’s medicinal benefits can be done via a Food and Drug Administration [FDA] announcement,” Dr Sopon Mekthon said yesterday in his capacity as chairman of the GPO and adviser to Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn. 

 

He said if Piyasakol next month signed an FDA announcement declaring marijuana legal for medical purposes, extracts would be ready for use from early next year.

 

Speaking at a forum held at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Law, Sopon said the FDA announcement would be even faster than Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invoking Article 44. 

 

Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prajin Juntong has been looking into the possibility of Article 44 being invoked to move forward the Drug Bill to legalise medical cannabis. 

 

“I have heard that the idea will be proposed to the prime minister on October 19,” Sopon said. “But even if the bill is fast-tracked via Article 44, it will take another three months at least to prepare related draft laws for the legalisation of marijuana’s medical use.”

 

Late last month, the GPO received 100 kilos of cannabis for research and development in anticipation that medical marijuana would soon be legalised.

 

“In the first phase, we will conduct research at GPO headquarters’ labs,” Sopon said yesterday. 

 

In the second phase, the GPO will install machinery at its Rangsit plant to extract marijuana’s active ingredients for semi-industrial production, he added. 

 

“In the third phase, the production will be done at an industrial level. Our facilities will cover 1,500 rai [240 hectares] in Chon Buri province with cannabis farms, extraction processes, research and learning centres,” he said. 

 

Law lecturer Asst Professor Kanongnij Sribua-iam said the Drug Bill would not be a useful approach to legalising therapeutic marijuana because its main focus was on banning illicit drugs. 

 

“For the benefit of patients in the long run, Thailand should introduce a specific law about marijuana,” she said. 

 

Professor Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, a senior medical lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said Britain took just six weeks to effectively legalise marijuana. 

 

“So, we should do it fast too,” he said.

 

He pointed out that about 200,000 Alzheimer’s patients, 150,000 Parkinson’s patients and many more cancer patients could benefit from marijuana’s active ingredients. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30356742

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-19

"...For the benefit of patients in the long run, Thailand should introduce a specific law about marijuana,” she said. 

Professor Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, a senior medical lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said Britain took just six weeks to effectively legalise marijuana. 

“So, we should do it fast too,” he said..."

 

Yes, Thailand should do it that fast as well.

 

There is no reason that I can think of for a delay; it is not like the NLA is busy or doing anything controversial or important which is sucking up all the oxygen. It is a rubber-stamp "legislature" which does what it is told.

 

Write up a bill, wake up those over-paid, under-worked, public finance-sucking "legislators" and order them to pass it. This whole process could be finished in a few weeks.

 

It is frustrating; Thailand has had these lumps of flesh sitting in the NLA for years and when they finally have a use, they are not being used.

 

Respectfully, they have been sleeping for years; wake them up and get it done...

 

 

Since the discussion of legalizing pot, I wonder how many tons of confiscated weed is waiting for the big sale in the storage of the cops.

I have read and I approve of this article. 

It's the same issue world wide; until all the dinosaurs in power die off change is impeded.

But what will I do with my potpourri?

Will the medical Marijuana be THC free ?

Considering that Canada can't keep up with the demand after it legalized pot, that tells me that Thailand is still in the running to corner market share if it move soon - real soon.  Obviously someone who is the position to become a billionaire sees that too.

 

I doubt that the government is being moved by 'compassion' as their current model for palliative care is almost non-existent.  But in my opinion, whatever works.  If it's the 'profit motive' that gets marijuana legalize to use for medical purposes than the sooner the better to relieve the suffering of patients.  Next they should consider legalizing the cultivation of opium poppies for medical purposes for the same reason. There are a number of countries now considering exactly that.

Edited October 20, 20187 yr by connda

make a law that everybody can grow it in their garden, I smell someone will make big profits on this medicinal mari-jane

 

I hope to see the day CBD oil (no THC, no getting high) could be available in Thailand for everybody