The Abhaiphubejhr cannabis model

The Abhaiphubejhr cannabis model

Cannabis plants will be cultivated and extracted for medicinal oil.
Cannabis plants will be cultivated and extracted for medicinal oil.

This project has to do with extracting oil from cannabis for the treatment of illnesses in necessary cases. Quality and all-round safety standards must be met, from the planting of the cannabis and the oil extraction to the application of the drug. The use of the oil must be certified by the Department of Medical Sciences as being free of pesticides and metal and chemical residue.

The dispensing of the drug must also strictly comply with medical standards. The project is undergoing a trial period and being evaluated and streamlined to best respond to the medical needs of patients, observers say.

Pharmacist Suphaporn Pitiporn, head of the pharmaceutical division of Chaophraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital, said the clinical trial is being run in three stages. The first stage, conducted on June 24, involved 10 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and cancer of the large intestine. A follow-up on efficacy within the first 24 hours of treatment confirmed no patient exhibited side effects. In fact, the drug showed signs of working on some patients. For example, those with dysarthria could speak more distinctly and others had less difficulty walking.

In the second stage, scheduled to take place in September, about 100,000 bottles of oil extracts will be used to cure pain of the peripheral nervous system which was not responding to treatment by conventional medicine.

In the third stage, planned for launch in November, oil will be extracted from 16 cannabis plants which were planted by the organic herb community in Ban Dong Bung in Prachin Buri on June 22 and are expected to be ready for use by October.

Cannabis plants are raised in the greenhouse at Chaophraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital.

The extraction process yields a thick paste.

An expert checks the quality of the oil extracted via supercritical CO2 extraction.

Samples of cannabis seeds are seen.

Samples of cannabis seeds are seen.

Dried cannabis is seen at the hospital.

A technician prepares to operate the supercritical CO2 extraction machine.

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