The Thai Ministry of Public Health is ready to start distributing a cannabis-based traditional medicine formula, which will be given to around 4,000 patients who have not responded to conventional treatment. The Ministry received about 10,000 bottles of cannabis oil in September, provided by Thailand’s Pharmaceutical Organization.
The cannabis-based traditional medicine will be used to help patients with insomnia, and to increase the appetite in patients who have not responded to other treatments.
Patients will be screened first and after they receive the cannabis-based medicine. Doctors will evaluate the efficacy of the treatment every one or two weeks.
This will be the first official use of Medical marijuana since a law legalizing it came into effect in 2018. Regulations from the Ministry of Health legalizing possession of marijuana for Medical, research and other purposes were published in the Royal Gazette in late February. They covered possession by patients who need marijuana for the treatment of the illness, and the criteria for legal possession by governmental organizations, professionals, private universities, farm community-based enterprises, international transport operators and patients travelling internationally. The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) opened Thailand’s first legal cannabis plantation on 27 February to produce cannabis oil.
(Sources: CTN News; Industry Herald24)
