FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Wissanu suggests delay in cannabis cultivation amid debate on legality

Wissanu suggests delay in cannabis cultivation amid debate on legality

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has suggested that stakeholders pause their cultivation plans amid a hot debate between the Ministry of Public Health and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board about its legality.

Wissanu was speaking after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

He said he had spoken to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and was told that the stakeholders were discussing how to solve the problem. When a reporter asked which side the people should listen to, and whether they should delay planting, Wissanu said they should slow down and wait for a while.

Earlier, Piyasiri Wattanavarangkul, spokesman for the board, said that after the new drug code came into force on December 9, 2021, there would be no "cannabis" in Category 5 that earlier included cannabis, psychoactive mushrooms and kratom plant.

Although the new drug code does not include the name "marijuana" in category 5 drugs, the new drug code has announced that the name of the narcotics is to be in accordance with the Ministry of Public Health.

This means marijuana remains on the list of category 5 drugs according to the notification of the Ministry of Public Health, except for parts or substances that are allowed to be produced in the country, such as bark, mycelium, leaves without attached inflorescences, cannabidiol (CBD) extracts containing no more than 0.2 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol by weight.

Therefore, it remains illegal to grow marijuana yourself, although some parts of the cannabis plant, such as the bark, fibre, leaves, as well as CBD, are permitted, where such components must be secured from a licensed source.

RELATED
nationthailand