Some 23,000 bottles of cannabis oil to be ready for use next month

The Chao Phraya Aphaiphubet Hospital will be able to produce some 9,000 bottles of the oil while the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) said it would make some 14,000 bottles of cannabis oil in August. 

Doctor Suphaporn Pitiporn, head of pharmaceutical operations at the Chao Phraya Aphaiphubet Hospital in Prachin Buri, said the hospital has received 662 kilogrammes of marijuana seized earlier by the authorities from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board for making cannabis oil for medical use.

Suphaporn said the hospital would produce between 8,000 and 9,000 5-cc bottles of cannabis oil to the 1.7 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) formula by August 23. The oil would not be used only at the Aphaiphubet hospital but also distributed to other hospitals.

By September 20, the hospital would make some 14,000 to 15,000 bottles of THC formula of cannabis oil and a further 30,000 to 32,000 bottles by October 10, Suphaporn added.

She said her hospital would also make the cannabidiol (CBD) formula of cannabis oil from marijuana planted by the hospital. She said the hospital would be able to make some 4,200 bottles of CBD-formula cannabis oil by February next year.

Her hospital and other hospitals would prescribe the oil based on patients’ urgent needs, especially those who cannot be treated with Western medicine.

Those who want to use cannabis oil to improve their quality of life would have to wait until the oil could be produced in adequate amounts, the doctor said.

Sophon Mekthon, chairman of the GPO board of directors, said the GPO would make some 10,000 bottles of THC-formula cannabis oil by August 7. The GPO would also make some 3,000 to 3,500 bottles of cannabis oil in a formula with equal portions of THC and CBD and 500 bottles of cannabis oil based on CBD formula within the same period.

Sophon said the cannabis oil of the GPO would be distributed by the Medical Department and the Office of the Food and Drug Administration.

The two were speaking during a meeting held Wednesday by the Public Health Ministry on regulations for administering cannabis oil in public hospitals.

Doctor Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary for Public Health, said over 100 provincial hospitals, general hospitals, and community hospitals have requested permission for administering cannabis oil to patients.

Sukhum said a hospital in each public health zone will be assigned as the centre for administering the oil and the centres would have a special clinic for administering the oil.