Thailand becomes first ASEAN nation to grow industrial-scale medical cannabis

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Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health, talks to the media at Maejo University in Chiang Mai.
Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health, talks to the media at Maejo University in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai – Thailand’s largest batch of 12,000 cannabis sprouts has been planted at Maejo University in Chiang Mai. It is the first-ever industrial-scale medical cannabis manufacturing facility in the ASEAN region. The produce is expected to be harvested in early 2020 for use in treatment and research.

Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health, said a total of 12,000 cannabis sprouts had been planted in the program. It is expected that 2.4 tons of dried cannabis will be delivered to the Pharmaceutical Government Organization (GPO) and its network partners by February 2020, in order to produce cannabis-based drugs to be available through licensed medical institutions including public and private hospitals as well as clinics.

The minister expressed his confidence that the cooperation will yield hemp oil of medical grade that meets the quality standard. The Department of Medical Services (DMS) will use it in treating patients along with research.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has used the first batch of hemp oil for research in test tubes, in order to study the effects of inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells. The NCI is currently waiting for the experimental results.