Thailand: opening of a clinic that treats patients with medical cannabis

The first clinic to use cannabis to treat patients opened at a public hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province last week. It will be run by a doctor and three licensed traditional medicine practitioners, while 10 others will be sent for training. A July amendment had authorized traditional Thai doctors to prescribe cannabis for therapeutic use to their patients.

The clinic will enable two groups of patients to be treated with cannabis in the initial phase. The first concerns people suffering from illnesses that can be alleviated by cannabis oil, such as muscle pain caused by multiple sclerosis, epilepsy that can no longer be treated by modern medicine, neuropathic pain and nausea caused by chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

The other group concerns patients treated by traditional Thai medicine, such as those with chronic illnesses causing certain symptoms such as sleep disorders, lack of appetite, acute chest pain, hoarseness, constipation, muscle pain and limb weakness in stroke patients.

Around 100 people came for treatment in the first group, and 500 in the second.

«The treatment will be supervised by qualified doctors and practitioners,» said Bhumjaithai Party leader and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. He added that practitioners who prepare their own cannabis formulas based on olive oil and coconut could submit them for validation. If they are not harmful, they will be authorized for supervised use in the country's clinics and hospitals. Indeed, earlier this month, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization authorized the use of three cannabis oil formulas. The Thai government then delivered 4,500 bottles. of 5 mL of cannabis oil to the Ministry of Public Health, which were redistributed to health institutions.