Thailand Proudly Produces Its First Medical Marijuana
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Unwilling to allow the public to
get zonked or
profit from recreational marijuana,
Thailand has instead produced its
first pharmaceutical
THC and CBD oils, tablets, oral sprays, chocolate
wafers
and traditional potions after recently legalizing
medical
cannabis.
This first line of weed-based
products puts Thailand on the cutting
edge of Southeast
Asia's legal marijuana industry, a lucrative
advantage if
allowed to flourish.
If recreational marijuana is
legalized and freely grown, it would
create an extremely
profitable domestic and international market
possibly
bigger than this mostly agricultural country's rice,
sugar
cane, or tapioca crops.
South Korea is ahead of
Thailand in producing legal medical cannabis
products for
domestic use.
India offers relatively small, decades-old
legal "bhang" sales for
recreational use solely within
that country and made from otherwise
illegal
marijuana.
Proud of the tiny amount they created, the
government organized a
visit for journalists on August 2
to Rangsit University's new,
sparsely equipped Medical
Cannabis Research Institute in the College
of
Pharmacy.
University staff unlocked a gray metal safe and
displayed 40 kilograms
(88 pounds) of dried marijuana
confiscated by police during drug
busts. Each rectangular
kilogram of "cannabis raw material" was
hard-pressed and
wrapped in clear plastic.
A few months ago, officials said
confiscated marijuana was useless for
medical purposes
because it was often contaminated with
insecticide,
fertilizer, heavy metals or
fungus.
Researchers realized however they had to use
illegal weed because
Thailand was unable to quickly grow
enough marijuana under strict
purity controls.
"If some samples are contaminated, we will not use it," a researcher said.
They also displayed a "subcritical solvent
extractor" and a "butane
extraction" machine, both
invented by Thais, to pull
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and
cannabidiol (CBD) from marijuana.
If laws are relaxed,
impoverished villagers could collectively buy
the
refrigerator-sized extractors and profit from demand,
they said.
The extractors produced the university's first
"controlled drug"
sesame-based cannabis oils.
One tiny
15-millileter bottle included 500 milligrams of THC and
100
milligrams of CBD, enough for 600 drops. Two drops a
day are to be
placed under the tongue.
"This product is
not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent
any
medical condition or any disease," and has "not been
evaluated by the
[Thai] Food and Drug Administration,"
the label said.
University researchers injected THC and
CBD into pink, swollen tumors
induced in live mice to
determine if cannabis inhibits cancer growth.
Other
healthy mice, under the influence, explored chambers
to
determine if cannabis reduces anxiety and offers other
benefits.
In one test, they put a mouse into a chamber
which had 16 holes in the
floor. Inquisitive drugged mice
explored more holes in three minutes
compared with shy
sober mice, indicating "anti-anxiety activity."
The
university's small, sunny rooftop garden displayed 72
leafy
marijuana plants in various stages of growth.
A
glass house encased 36 plants fed by "root spa" watering,
while the
other 36 stood outdoors and absorbed "drip"
watering.
"We grow without any chemicals. No pesticides.
No chemical
fertilizer," a grower said.
The plants
sprouted from seeds of unknown origin, recovered
from
confiscated crops.
"We don't know if they got the
seeds from Thailand or from a
neighboring country,"
researcher Orapan Hussarang said.
"We don't know exactly,"
what plant strains are growing. "It's just
unknown," she
said.
"After we get the bud, we are going to give it to
the pharmacy. They
will check how much THC and
CBD."
Some Thai labs imported documented seeds from the
Netherlands or
elsewhere, Ms. Orapan said.
Rangsit
University also presented its cannabis oils which
include
herbal ingredients used in Thai cuisine and
tonics.
"These [oils] are used when your body is feeling
too warm, or if you
have extreme weight loss from
disease, or to promote sleep,"
researcher Somporn
Phonkrathok said.
Stomach bloating, stress disorders, pain
and other problems can also
be treated with these
elixirs. Some can be massaged into the skin.
Researchers
are using Thailand's centuries-old recipes gathered
from
rural traditional healers who have been discreetly
treating villagers
with illegal marijuana-laced
concoctions.
The Government Pharmaceutical Organization
(GPO) and a handful of
other facilities are also growing
and producing small amounts of
marijuana for medical use,
but nowhere near what is needed.
The GPO delivered 4,500
tiny bottles of its oils to the Health
Ministry on August
7 for final-stage cancer victims and recently
planted an
additional 20,000 plants.
Researchers have not been able
to make enough doses because the
government demands most
marijuana research and production be conducted
in
Thailand which lacks qualified staff and large-scale
cannabis
facilities.
Officials do not want to import
large quantities of foreign medical
cannabis because it
could flood Thailand's market and snatch profits
from
government organizations and licensed facilities.
As a
result, tens of thousands of Thai patients are stuck waiting
for
hospitals and traditional medical practitioners to
prescribe and
distribute made-in-Thailand cannabis
medicine.
Marijuana cannot be grown, produced or sold in
Thailand except for
medical use with permission from the
government which can also import
and export medical
cannabis products.
"How can we produce enough
cannabis-based medicines when there are
only a few places
authorized to grow the plant?" said Daycha Siripatra
who
distributes free marijuana oil to cancer
patients.
Daycha's manufacturing and distribution was
illegal but his 40,000
patients and other supporters
defended recent moves to shut it down.
As a result, he was
accredited by the Health Department in April and
the
government is issuing him a license to continue.
His
"Daycha Oil" however must be produced in cooperation with
the
Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative
Medicine which
reportedly will allow him to distribute 25
percent of his oil each
month.
Patients qualify only if
they suffer severe illnesses listed by the
Health
Ministry and agree to undergo studies by
Chulalongkorn
University's Pharmaceutical Science faculty
to determine efficacy and
side effects.
"That will
force users and medical practitioners to rely on
authorized
suppliers, who can manipulate the price," Mr.
Daycha warned in May.
To boosts supplies, the GPO plans to
import some CBD oil from abroad
until Thailand produces
enough.
"Most Thai marijuana strains contain more THC than
CBD, which makes it
more suitable for recreational use,"
GPO Director Withoon Danwiboon
said.
After recent
parliamentary elections, the modest-sized Bhumjai
Thai
(Proud to be Thai) party's leader Anutin
Charnvirakul became health
minister and deputy prime
minister.
Mr. Anutin campaigned to legalize recreational
marijuana for
government sales, but not enough other
officials agree.
"We would like to provide medical tour
packages, such as detox, Thai
massage and other wellness
courses that use marijuana," said Tourism
Minister Pipat
Ratchakitprakan, who belongs to Mr. Anutin's party.
During
the August 7 delivery of the GPO's medical cannabis oil to
the
Health Ministry, Mr. Anutin said: "This is the
outcome of legalizing
medical cannabis.
"There is no hidden agenda. We only want to support every patient."
***
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://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