Over 100,000 people register to grow cannabis

Over 100,000 people register to grow cannabis

Sriranchakri Rirkrit, an academic at the provincial public health office of Samut Prakan, shows cannabis plants in the compound of the office in Muang district on Thursday as cannabis cultivation is legalised. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)
Sriranchakri Rirkrit, an academic at the provincial public health office of Samut Prakan, shows cannabis plants in the compound of the office in Muang district on Thursday as cannabis cultivation is legalised. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)

More than 100,000 people registered to cultivate cannabis via the application and website of the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday morning as the legalisation of cannabis and hemp took effect.

FDA secretary-general Dr Paisarn Dunkum said on Thursday that the new law allows people to grow hemp and cannabis only if they register with the FDA via the "ปลูกกัญ" app and https://plookganja.fda.moph.go.th.

Later the FDA created another website for the same purpose because of overwhelming demand for the registration. It is https://plookganjaweb.fda.moph.go.th.

Dr Paisarn said that apart from the online registration, growers would not have to seek permission to cultivate the plants. On Thursday morning the app was downloaded for more than 50,000 times and more than 100,000 people completed the registration, he said.

The FDA is issuing electronic registration certificates for registrants. If the certification is later found to have been abused, it will be revoked, Dr Paisarn said.

After registering, people can grow and use cannabis and hemp for purposes of improving their own health, the preparation of traditional medicines, and commercial and industrial purposes, the FDA secretary-general said.

People can also produce and process parts of hemp and cannabis plants.

For extracts containing more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), users must seek permission under relevant laws before using them in their products. Extracts with THC content of over 0.2% were considered as narcotics, Dr Paisarn said.

The delisting of hemp and cannabis from the government's Category 5 list of narcotics took effect on Thursday. Consequently the production, import, export, distribution, consumption and possession of cannabis and hemp are formally legalised.

Cannabis oil extracts that contain more than 0.2% THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, will still be recognised as a Category 5 substance and regulated under laws pertaining to narcotics control and suppression.

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