The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defended its draft regulations on the licencing and advertising of marijuana-based medications, saying that the regulations "were not designed to benefit large, foreign pharmaceutical companies".
The FDA issued the statement in response to a remark made by former senator, Rosana Tositrakul, through which she asked whether the ministerial regulations drafted by the FDA -- which has been approved by the cabinet -- were designed to favour foreign pharmaceutical companies, which might attempt to push to get a bigger share of Thailand's new and nascent medical marijuana market by importing more cannabis-based drugs into Thailand.
Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, secretary-general of the FDA, said that currently there are no foreign pharmaceutical companies which hold the rights to sell marijuana-based medication in the country, which makes it virtually impossible for the regulation to benefit foreign pharmaceutical companies.
Under the new ministerial regulations, FDA approval is required for every advertisement about marijuana-based medications, he said.
Dr Tares insisted that the advertisements can only be educational in nature, and must not be made for commercial purposes.