The Thai government will distribute one million free cannabis plants to households across the nation in June to mark a new rule allowing people to grow cannabis at home, its health minister has said.
Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced the move in a Facebook post on May 8 in which he expressed his intention for cannabis plants to be grown like “household crops.”
The new rule, which comes into force on June 9, will allow people to grow cannabis plants at home after notifying their local government, but the plants will have to be of medical grade and used exclusively for medicinal purposes. Additionally, the cannabis cannot be used for commercial purposes without further licenses.The move is the latest step in Thailand’s plan to promote cannabis as a cash crop. About a third of its labor force works in agriculture, according to the World Bank.
In a region notorious for harsh penalties towards illegal drugs, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia in 2018 to legalize cannabis for medical research and use.
The kingdom has also loosened local laws around cannabis. Thai drinks and cosmetics companies last year rushed to launch products with hemp and CBD, a compound that does not give users a high, after their use was approved for consumer goods. [Read More @ CNN]
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