Push for Thailand to be medical marijuana hub starts November
Authorities say Thailand will launch its bid to become Southeast Asia’s world-class medical marijuana hub next month. Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul plans to push marijuana as a major industrial crop according to the Director-General of the Department of Medical Services.
The Ministry and Department will work together to promote the crop and put Thailand’s medicinal marijuana police into effect on November 10. The plan is to legalise and promote marijuana as a medical treatment for a wide variety of afflictions, boosting the plant’s status as a major industrial crop.
That would create a huge potential for economic boom domestically, giving Thailand a financial boost, while also lending credibility and attractiveness to Thailand as a medical tourism destination, something Thailand’s plastic surgery industry had already somewhat bolstered before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Health Ministry is focusing on expediting policy to allow Thailand to grow and produce cannabis products and globally recognised medicines after medical marijuana clinics launched previously and generated 7 billion baht this year. They hope to push fast industry growth to solidify Thailand as the medical marijuana hub of Southeast Asia, the first country to support it in the region.
The Department of Medical Services Director-General also believes that the general population’s attitude regarding ganja has softened a bit, even in conservative Thailand, and people are coming around to the benefits of the crop for medicine and for the economy. He believes that the people of Thailand could earn money by accepting and promoting medical tourism to the country.
Thailand is developing its credibility with the establishment between the government and private sector of the International Medical Cannabis Research Centre with doctors specialising in medical marijuana to help grow, extract, and research cannabis.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
