Thailand delivers first batch of medical marijuana for distribution hospital

  • Patients receiving medicinal cannabis must have a prescription and show that other treatments have been ineffective.
  • The law authorizing research and medical use of cannabis was approved last 25 December when the country was still under a military junta, dissolved after elections last March.

A paradox in advance against the decriminalization of cannabis. Southeast Asia is famous for being one of the areas with tougher laws on cannabis use and / or drugs in the world, but Thailand has taken the lead in this process and at the end of 2018 the country, whose population rounds 70 millions of inhabitants, He legalized the medical use and keep moving in that direction.

A) Yes, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, joining countries like Canada, Australia, Israel, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Colombia, Croatia, UK, New Zealand, Jamaica and more than half of US states, to mention some of the world's nations that have advanced in legislative, for medical use.

Since the beginning of August, the Thai government, through the Ministry of Public Health, He began delivering oil bottles cannabis to treat patients in the public health network, specifically 12 Health centers, This is the first official initiative in the use of the plant for medical purposes since the law came into force.

According to figures released by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), entity responsible for delivering oil production to the Ministry of Health, They were distributed 4.500 bottles 5ml, which they would include treatments of about 4.000 registered patients suffering from nausea due to chemotherapy, epilepsy, and patients with Parkinson, Terminal cancer, Alzheimer and palliative care. The initial plan includes distribution 10 thousand bottles, the 5.500 remaining gradually be delivered.

Thailand has a “urgent Agenda” to distribute 1 million bottles extracts marijuana within 5 a 6 months, Anutin Charnvirakul explained, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, who also added that the GPO and other agencies produce 200,000 extract bottles each month from September this year.

It is estimated that the GPO will begin to plant their second crop of cannabis during August, in order to expand the greenhouse cultivation early 2020, to increase its oil production 150,000 a 200,000 bottles.