Thailand gets first clinics that provide cannabis oil
NONTHABURI, THAILAND: Thailand on Monday opened its first two full-time clinics dispensing cannabis oil for medical treatment, a step forward in the government’s policy of promoting the licensed use of marijuana products to relieve the symptoms of a range of ailments.
About 400 patients, many of them with cancer, were given the oil for free at a flagship clinic at the Public Health Ministry in a suburb of Bangkok.
The initial four formulations handed out are used for treating conditions such as migraines, insomnia, nausea, numbness and pain. The medicines are touted as being based on traditional remedies.
Thailand was previously known for harsh antidrug laws, but is now eyeing the economic potential of cannabis. A report last year by Prohibition Partners, which claims to be the leading authority on the subject, said Asia’s medical cannabis market would be worth around $5.8 billion by 2024.
Around 25 similar clinics have been operating part-time since the legislature agreed in 2018 to amend the country’s drug laws to allow the use and production of medical cannabis.
The Health Ministry clinic and another in Bangkok are forerunners of a planned nationwide network, if they show positive results. “Marijuana could be an answer. At least the patients’ quality of life is improved,” said Dr. Prasert Mongkolsiri, the director of a public hospital, who helped advise patients on Monday.
“At least it can lessen the side effects of the modern chemicalbased medicines that they’ve been taking for 10 or 20 years,” he said, referring to chemotherapy for cancer patients.