GPO signs deal for cannabis purchase

[rooster59]

GPO signs deal for cannabis purchase

Paphamon Arayasukawat

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has officially signed a purchase agreement with a community enterprise consisting of cannabis growers in Buriram province, securing local supplies for the agency to begin production of cannabis and hemp-infused medicine.

 

Dr. Sopon Mekthon, Deputy Public Health Minister, in his capacity as chair of the event, outlined that securing cannabis supplies is vital as the plant can be utilized to effectively treat patients with various ailments such as Epilepsy or act as a strong pain reliever. “So far, there has been demand from the public, and securing a supply with the first community enterprise in Buriram will help the agency better meet the demand,” assured the Deputy Minister.

 

Having signed the agreement today, the community enterprise in Buriram province should be able to supply their first lot in June this year, totaling 18 kilograms, while plantations in the area will expand further.

 

In the very near future, the GPO will sign a purchase agreement with three more community enterprises in Lampang, Nakhon Ratchasima and Mae Hong Son provinces.

 

Market prices for the plant have been set, with prices varying from 30,000 to 45,000 baht depending on the Cannabidiol (CBD) concentration levels per one kilogram of dried Cannabis leaves. CBD is an active ingredient in cannabis-derived from hemp. CBD is a chemical that may help treat conditions like pain, insomnia, and anxiety.

 

According to the GPO, cannabis with CBD concentration levels of 12% or beyond, which is segmented as ‘A’ grade, will be sold to the GPO at 45,000 baht per kilogram. Meanwhile, ‘B’ grade cannabis with lower CBD concentration levels of 10-11.9% will be priced at 37,500 - 43,125 baht per kilogram, while that with CBD levels of 8-9.9% will be priced at 30,000-35,625 baht per kilogram.

 

The reason for state agencies like the GPO seeking the cooperation of community enterprises is to expand the amount of cannabis containing CBD exceeding Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the marijuana plant’s primary component causing psychoactive effects, once absorbed into the bloodstream; it also travels to the brain, suppresses the brain’s activeness, and acts as an anti-inflammatory drug that helps relieve pain.

 

Dr. Witoon Danwibul, GPO Managing Director, added that CBD is an essential component in cannabis that could be beneficial in terms of medical use but also creates a psychotropic effect on consumers. He shared that “the typical and naturally grown cannabis often carries more THC than CBD, but cannabis effective for medicinal use should contain higher CBD levels than THC. Therefore, the GPO plans to start a planting activity with community enterprises, so they can produce cannabis with higher CBD levels while maintaining quality standards."

 

Those interested in participating in the plantation program are urged to form a community enterprise that can contact the GPO on hotline 1648; by email at [email protected] or by looking up the GPO’s website www.gpo.or.th/กัญชา

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-02-21

 

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[PatOngo]

 

[Damrongsak]

I never paid that much for weed when I was a kid.  Of course, we didn't know how much CBD was in a dime bag. 

[mtls2005]

9 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I never paid that much for weed when I was a kid.  Of course, we didn't know how much CBD was in a dime bag. 

 

Forgetting inflation in the 40 years since then, there is a difference between wholesale and retail.

 

That (45,000/Kg) is actually right around 50% of the recent wholesale (per lb) undergound market in the U.S.

 

Retail, fully legal in my state in a shop, is expensive, $60 (incl 20% VAT) for an eighth.

[BritManToo]

16 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I never paid that much for weed when I was a kid.  Of course, we didn't know how much CBD was in a dime bag. 

Current retail for quality flower is 4,000bht/ounce or more in Thailand.

(so a friend tells me)

Edited February 21, 2021 by BritManToo

[mtls2005]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

more

 

150 baht/gr? Wut.

 

More, a lot more, then add even more.

 

But then it depends both on your "friend" and their classification of "quality".

[BritManToo]

Just now, mtls2005 said:

But then it depends both on your "friend" and their classification of "quality".

Quality = 15-20% THC, with a named strain.

[CraigInBangkok]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Current retail for quality flower is 4,000bht/ounce or more in Thailand.

(so a friend tells me)

yeah I'd say more ..4,000 sounds really cheap to me ... i'd say 20,000 for top grade is not uncommon here, but of course it depends who you know.

[Krabi King]

Mind you all that they are talking about medical grade non (or very slightly) psychoactive CBD cannabis here, without mentioning any THC levels. So comparing this to most recreational THC weed strains and prices is not much use.

[Justgrazing]

8 hours ago, rooster59 said:

THC is the marijuana plant’s primary component causing psychoactive effects, once absorbed into the bloodstream; it also travels to the brain, suppresses the brain’s activeness, and acts as an anti-inflammatory drug that helps relieve pain.

 

but known side effects are terrible munchies with the afflicted known to visit petrol station shops at 3 am seeking biscuits and Mars bars to stave off the effects .. 

 

At least they've got a real flower in this pic' unlike that mewy fake bit of fluff and cabbage leaf that was in another article on this subject .. 

[connda]

8 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Market prices for the plant have been set, with prices varying from 30,000 to 45,000 baht depending on the Cannabidiol (CBD) concentration levels per one kilogram of dried Cannabis leaves.

Allow the public to grow the plants and that figure falls to 3,000 to 4,500 THB per kilo.  Ohhhh, but there is money, money, money to be made for the extra-special select few growers and corporations blessed by Anutin and friends. 
The commoners?  Other than some windy words a couple of years back about “We have high confidence that marijuana will be among the major agricultural products for Thai households." and “In the near future, families will be able to plant cannabis trees in their back gardens like any other herb.”
No.  The commoners are and will remain shut out of what will be a highly lucrative trade in the high-priced legal marijuana trade and processing for a handful of select people and their companies. 
This could have been a major boon for the Thai economy as well as for individual Thai citizens.  Allowing the Thai people to supply the world with various grades of legal marijuana and hemp with the standard of living rocketing up for most Thai citizens!  But!  Greed and avarice, the deadly sins that they are, are wielded by the wealthy to keep the masses in poverty. Nope.  The elites do not share.  And this is only for their benefit.

[PadPrikKhing]

On 2/21/2021 at 1:29 AM, connda said:

The commoners?  Other than some windy words a couple of years back about “We have high confidence that marijuana will be among the major agricultural products for Thai households." and “In the near future, families will be able to plant cannabis trees in their back gardens like any other herb.”
No.  The commoners are and will remain shut out of what will be a highly lucrative trade in the high-priced legal marijuana trade and processing for a handful of select people and their companies. 

 

That is exactly, precisely, what happened here in California when it was "legalized." In the run-up to it, to get the votes necessary to pass the initiative, they claimed that all the small mom-and-pop clandestine growers who had been taking all the huge risks for years and decades would be "grandfathered in" and allowed to get established in their local markets for like 2 or 3 years before the big money people would be allowed to come in. Then, in the 11th hour, right before the thing passed, they had some secret meeting that decreed that oops, oh well now it is only going to be the people who have $500,000 and up for investment who will be granted licenses because the licenses would now cost insane amounts of money ($50,000-$100,000 and up). The big money people were let in, and the little people were shut out. Again.