Thai FDA to soon announce legal users of cannabis for medical purposes

BANGKOK, May 17 (TNA) - Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Ministry of Public Health, will, next week, officially announce the first batch of legally-registered conventional doctors and pharmacists, as well as traditional medical experts who have passed its training program for their legal use of cannabis for medical purposes. FDA Deputy Secretary-General Dr. Surachoke Tangwiwat told journalists on May 16 that the list of legally-registered conventional doctors and pharmacists, as well as traditional medical experts who have passed the training program and certified to be the legal users of cannabis for medical purposes in Thailand will be announced on the FDA website as of May 21. "There are about 170 legally-registered conventional doctors and pharmacists who have passed the FDA training program and will be certified to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes, along with some 200 legally-registered traditional medical experts additionally who will also be certified to use cannabis in their classes of trainees", Dr. Surachoke said. According to the FDA deputy chief, there have been more than 12,000 people who have filed their petitions for an official amnesty for the possession of cannabis used for their medical purposes, based on a new FDA regulation. The FDA deputy chief affirmed, however, that there will be no extension of the FDA's 90-day period, based on the new regulation, for the public petitions for such the official amnesty for the possession of cannabis used for medical purposes. (TNA)