Australian firm offers free pot assistance

An Australian company has offered to assist in the Thai government’s efforts to grow marijuana for medical purposes, free of charge.

Adam Benjamin, director of Medifarm, said at a seminar on marijuana research in Bangkok yesterday that the company is working with a partner in Israel, which has the world’s largest record on patients receiving cannabis-based treatments.

“We would like to work with the Thai government on this for free,” Mr Benjamin said.

Thailand, with close to a million patients who may benefit from medical marijuana, has the potential to successfully develop and sustain cannabis-based treatments, he said.

Mr Benjamin added that Thailand can reap significant benefits from the export of medical marijuana, given increasing global demand for cannabis-based drugs.

Several countries have begun to export medical marijuana, he said, before adding that many Australian companies have invested in marijuana farming and the development of cannabis-based drugs in Israel.

Australia still regulates the harvesting of cannabis and the production of cannabisbased drugs to ensure the quantity of drugs available corresponds with the number of patients, he said.

Meanwhile, Niyom Temsisuk, secretary- general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), urged society to be aware of the adverse impacts of marijuana legalisation.

“This plant can confer medical benefits, but we must not be carried away and remember that marijuana is classified as a narcotic,” said Mr Niyom at the same seminar, adding that Thailand still has to abide by international treaties on narcotics control.

Mr Niyom cited the example of Australia, which still treats marijuana as a narcotic plant, despite the fact that it has been using the plant for medical purposes.

The international principle that narcotics are illegal products should be maintained, even though some countries have already decriminalised marijuana, he said.

These countries have only started to experience the adverse impacts of marijuana legalisation, which includes a rise in traffic accidents associated with the recreational use of marijuana, he continued.

Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong also dismissed a suggestion to permit patients to grow marijuana and use the plant as medicine on their own.

“That won’t be an option, as both the production and use of medical marijuana will be strictly controlled,” he said.

The government is currently speeding up deliberations on a new law on medical cannabis, which is expected to come into effect by the end of December, the justice minister added.