The Public Health Ministry is allowing cannabis buds to be sold by more than 5,000 licensed vendors nationwide next month, with vendors' and buyers' information to be sent to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) as part of controls over its sales.
Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, director-general of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM), said yesterday that those who want to sell cannabis buds, designated as a controlled herb, must first obtain permission from the department.
Dr Thongchai said the department is in the process of setting up a system to record information regarding the sale of dried cannabis buds from licensed vendors.
Vendors will need to provide information regarding the number of cannabis buds in their possession, where they buy and who they sell to, he said, adding that buyers must be more than 20 years old.
When customers buy cannabis buds, they must insert their ID card into a device linked with the DTAM's system.
From this, required information can be checked in real-time and then forwarded to the INCB, Dr Thongchai said.
"Currently, Thailand doesn't have such information to report to the INCB. When the system is in place, we can give the INCB reassurances about controls over sales," he said.
The system is expected to be in place next month, he said, adding that there are about 5,000 vendors licensed to sell cannabis and cannabis products nationwide.
Of that, about 2,000 are in Bangkok, mostly in tourist spots such as Khao San Road or the Thong Lor area, he said.
Dr Thongchai said that the cannabis and hemp control bill has yet to be enacted, pending deliberation in parliament.
"Even though the Public Health Ministry has enforced ministerial regulations to control the use of cannabis, we have to admit this still does not suffice," he said.
He stressed the need to enact the bill to control the use of the plant, particularly the smoking of cannabis in public.
On Wednesday, the House committee vetting the bill agreed to remove Section 3 of the bill, which stipulates that cannabis and hemp were not considered narcotic substances under the Narcotics Act.
This has raised questions about the status of the plant, but the Bhumjaithai Party, which sponsored the bill, and the DTAM, have insisted that axing Section 3 would not reverse cannabis's delisting as a narcotic drug.
Supachai Jaisamut, chairman of the panel and a list-MP of the Bhumjaithai Party, stressed the bill was intended to curb the recreational use of cannabis given the implications it has on society.