Pharmacist group takes aim at weed

Pharmacist group takes aim at weed

The Rural Pharmacist Society yesterday issued a statement calling for cannabis to be used for medicinal purposes only.

The group expressed concern about the decriminalisation of cannabis which has led to many people using it recreationally. A lack of adequate controls to prevent cannabis use outside of medicinal purposes could have a negative impact on young people's physical and mental development, it said.

In light of this, the group has called on the government to order the planting of cannabis to be suspended as the controls, including registration for planting, are not adequate.

It also wants the government to stop the sale of cannabis buds in public. Permission must be obtained for the sale and the number must be restricted and the users must be specified.

The use of cannabis as an ingredient for food or other everyday products must be shown on product labels and the government must provide treatment for people who suffer unpleasant side effects, the group said.

In Nakhon Phanom, Sakda Chaiphai, director of the Secondary Education Service Area Office of Nakhon Phanom, said yesterday that at least six students at a school in Na Kae district admitted they had tried cannabis.

He said officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board visited the school to educate students about the use of cannabis as well as to conduct urine drug testing.

The officials told students that any of them who had used cannabis should come clean about it before the test otherwise they might be punished by the school director.

Then, six students admitted to doing so, Mr Sakda said, adding it was believed cannabis could have been consumed by students in other schools. He said a total of 55 secondary schools in the province have now been declared off-limits to cannabis.

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