A doctor has urged the government to speed up passing a law to regulate cannabis and cannabis-infused food products before someone becomes seriously ill or ends up dying as a result of consuming them unintentionally.
In a Facebook post, Dr Smith Srisont, president of the Forensic Physician Association of Thailand, wrote about a new case in which a child was hospitalised after suffering an extremely irregular heartbeat as a result of eating a jelly.
His parents later found out that the jelly was a cannabis-infused product sold at a sweets shop near the child's school, said the doctor, adding that it could be assumed the boy wasn't aware the jelly contained cannabis.
The child's heart rate was rising dramatically when he was rushed to the hospital, he said in the post, accompanied by photos of the same type of cannabis-infused jelly which he found on the internet.
"This isn't the first case. Ask any emergency room doctors or psychiatrists working at state-run hospital and you will realise how many similar cases they have dealt with recently," he said.
The situation is worsening and the government as well as other organisations concerned will have to work faster to better regulate cannabis, he said.
"One day it could be your child who consumes a cannabis-infused snack and then needs hospitalisation, or even die, as a result of eating this kind of product," he said.
The Department of Land Transport, meanwhile, has issued a regulation prohibiting use of cannabis and hemp while in a vehicle transporting passengers, goods or animals.
Published in the Royal Gazette on Friday, the regulation took effect immediately, said a source yesterday.
The regulation applies to all parties working or travelling in these vehicles including passengers and drivers.
In related news, a Chiang Mai resident has complained in a Facebook post about an operator of a marijuana growing business who set up some greenhouses in a housing estate in Muang district which disturbed his neighbours with their smell of cannabis.
Several residents in the estate complained about the impact of the growers' activities on their health, said Kamalapha Iamsanphang, the Facebook user who posted the complaint.
A doctor warns of colourful cannabis-infused jellies which are available on the shelf like a typical snack and can be mistakenly bought by children. Photo from Smith Fa Srisont Facebook