The Biggest Medical Marijuana Facility in Southeast Asia



BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand has built what's described as the

biggest industrial-scale medical marijuana facility in Southeast Asia

with 12,000 plants, and will soon allow everyone to grow six cannabis

plants "in their back gardens like any other herb."

Recreational use remains illegal with punishments including

imprisonment. Enthusiasts hope the disappearing resistance to

marijuana's medical use will result in looser laws for public

enjoyment and business profits.

Those changes appear to be gaining momentum.

Government officials attended a ceremony in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai in September where Maejo University researchers planted 12,000 new marijuana sprouts.

The promising shoots are inside a newly built 32,722-square-foot

(3,040-square-meter) greenhouse with controls for temperature,

moisture and light.

Seeds for the 12,000 plants were provided by the government's Department of Medical Service.

Officials expect the plants will produce medical-grade cannabis flowers and buds within six months.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) hopes to use those ingredients to make one million bottles of cannabis oil, each containing five milliliters, by February 2020.

"These are historic first steps on the path towards allowing people to grow six cannabis trees in their homes," said newly appointed Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. "In the near future, families will be able to plant it in their back gardens like any other herb.

"The university will be a center where ordinary people can learn how to plant and grow good quality cannabis. Cannabis is not an issue of politics, it is a product that can benefit people's health," he said, planting a sprout while wearing a white lab coat.

Mr. Anutin led his small, newly formed Bhumjai Thai (Proud to be Thai) party's campaign earlier this year during parliamentary elections by promising each household could grow six plants.

By selling each mature plant to the government for $2,225, a family could earn $13,350 for all six, he told voters.

Foreign experts warn not every plant produces medical-grade cannabis, and the ones that do are difficult to raise.

Amateurs could produce average weed, but without investing money and taking time to tend to the plants, those crops would not qualify for the government to purchase for medical use.

If recreational marijuana is allowed, then private growers could profit easier because quality requirements would be less strict.

Mr. Anutin predicted fully legalized marijuana would be a bigger and more lucrative crop for Thailand than rice, sugarcane, tapioca, rubber or other produce.

Thailand's low wages would boost its ability to compete in

international markets against big foreign cannabis companies where

operating costs are higher.

Potential up-and-coming rivals in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere

in Asia however could outgrow Thailand which would need to create

niche strains to sell abroad, foreign experts said.

Maejo University reportedly developed a marijuana strain it calls

"Issara" (Independence). It offers equal percentages of cannabidiol

(CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Future strains will offer differing percentages of CBD and THC to

treat illnesses and symptoms requiring other ratios.

Officials hope more Thai universities, labs, agricultural experts and

botanists will produce additional local strains.

"We have plans to extend the cannabis-growing to outdoor areas too,

which is likely to be suitable for the local strains that are found in

many parts of the country," director of the Maejo Natural Farming

Research and Development Center said, according to the Bangkok Post.

At least 13 hospitals have reportedly received licenses to dispense

cannabis extracts to patients with prescriptions.

A classroom inside a hospital in Pranchin Buri recently began teaching

the public how to grow medical-grade marijuana.

"This training course consists of both classroom lectures and

practical sessions in closed-farming plots," Chaophraya Abhaibhubejhr

Hospital's director Namphol Danpipat said.

"We aim to provide students with optimal growing techniques that will

yield the best quality cannabis for medical purposes," Mr. Namphol

said according to local media.

The training course was titled: "Medical Cannabis Organic Farming for

Agriculturists and the General Public."

Teachers will instruct students how patients can use CBD and THC, how

to prevent fungus and pest damage, and what government regulations

must be obeyed to produce marijuana for medical use.

Thais have been growing weed for hundreds of years for traditional

purposes for illnesses, relaxation, recipes and entertainment. Strict

medical quality is a new concept.

Thailand's legendary, mind-bending "Thai Sticks" strain of illegal

weed was hailed among the U.S. and international counterculture during

the 1960s and 70s. But it was rarely developed into better strains

with varying percentages of ingredients.

Countless other strains have been developed during recent years in the

U.S., Canada, Europe and other foreign countries.

As a result, Thailand trails far behind other countries where medical

and recreational marijuana has been legalized and developed to produce

an array of foreign strains with CBD and THC levels suitable for

medical use.

"Most Thai marijuana strains contain more THC than CBD, which makes

them more suitable for recreational use," GPO director Withoon

Danwiboon said in May.

Concerned about foreign competition, Thailand approved a $4 million

budget in August to expand government-controlled marijuana farms for

medical purposes.

Last month, Thailand announced that its first relatively small

pharmaceutical laboratory produced CBD and THC oils, tablets, oral

sprays, chocolate wafers and traditional potions for medical use. They

proudly displayed the lab's tiny garden of 72 plants.

***

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco,

California, reporting news from Asia since 1978 and winner of Columbia

University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He co-authored three

non-fiction books about Thailand, including "'Hello My Big Big Honey!'

Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews," "60

Stories of Royal Lineage," and "Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News

Since 1946." Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the chapter "Ceremonies

and Regalia" in a book published in English and Thai titled, "King

Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in

Perspective." Mr. Ehrlich's newest book, "Sheila Carfenders, Doctor

Mask & President Akimbo" portrays a 22-year-old American female mental

patient who is abducted to Asia by her abusive San Francisco

psychiatrist.

His online sites are:

https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com

https://flickr.com/photos/animists/albums

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Big-Honey-Revealing-Interviews/dp/1717006418

https://www.amazon.com/Sheila-Carfenders-Doctor-President-Akimbo/dp/1973789353/

https://www.facebook.com/SheilaCarfenders



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