Over 800,000 Thais have registered to grow cannabis at home

Since June 9 Thais have the right to grow cannabis in their homes, officially for medical purposes.

The procedure for registering a plantation couldn't be simpler: people wishing to grow their own beans at home must register on PlookGanja, a government web interface which is also available as a mobile application on the Android and iOs stores. If this is not possible, they can also go to the provincial administrative offices to submit their application and wait to receive notification of acceptance.

As of 5 p.m. local time yesterday, more than 800,000 people had registered their legal planting requests. according to count of the Thai FDA Cannabis, a division of the Ministry of Health which partly regulates the public use of cannabis.

Around half of the 800,000 applications have already been accepted.

At the same time, the Thai government committed to distributing over 1 million plants of Cannabis. Thais will thus be able to grow cannabis and sell it to the local medical circuit of pharmacies and dispensaries via the regulatory authority.

«This will enable the population and the government to generate more than 10 billion baht [per year, or €300 million] in revenue from cannabis and hemp (...) Meanwhile, people can present their cannabis and hemp products and sell their products throughout the country,» explained Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand's Minister of Health.

The sale of recreational cannabis is not yet legal in Thailand, and public consumption is still punishable by prison sentences and fines, but some stores, notably in Bangkok, have already started selling «adult-use» cannabis.

Rules governing recreational use are expected to be published soon by the Thai government, as cannabis is currently neither illegal - it is no longer a narcotic - nor legal - it is not yet regulated. Only cannabis extracts (oils, concentrates, etc.) containing +0.2% THC are currently reserved for the pharmaceutical circuit.