Anutin himself will clarify cannabis legalisation: PM
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will clarify the legalisation on cannabis to relieve uncertainty among various sectors, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday.
He said Anutin was responsible for the legalisation while awaiting House of Representatives consideration of the Cannabis-Hemp Act.
Prayut did not reply to press questions about whether the government would launch a royal decree to tackle “loopholes” in the cannabis legalisation.
He said the committee promoting the legalisation is monitoring the situation closely.
Concern over the bill brewed after four consumers were admitted to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration-run hospitals with suspected overdose.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt explained on Tuesday that the first case was a 51-year-old man, who was rushed to Charoen Krung Pracharak Hospital after he suffered chest pain while smoking marijuana. He died later from what doctors diagnosed as cardiac arrest and heart failure.
In the second case, a boy aged 16 and a half was diagnosed with ganja overdose and placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of Luangpor Thaweesak Chutintharo Uthit Hospital, he said.
Chadchart said the other two persons, aged 17 and 25, were admitted to Taksin Hospital after suffering rapid heartbeat and palpitations following a cannabis smoking session.
