Patients, in registered possession of medicinal cannabis, will be allowed to keep it for three months after the amnesty deadline expired on Tuesday.

Food and Drug Administration secretary-general Dr. Tharet Krasanairaveevong said today that the message, widely shared on the social media, claiming that registered patients could keep it for six months is incorrect, emphasizing that the duration of the respite is only three months.

According to the amnesty, the amount of medicinal cannabis that a patient can legally possess must also be appropriate and necessary for their treatment.

Dr. Tharet said that, after three months, medicinal cannabis, which is manufactured to quality standards, will be available to be prescribed to patients by clinicians who have undergone appropriate training in the use of medicinal cannabis.

Civic groups, concerned with the use of medicinal cannabis, however, are not satisfied with what they view as water-tight control of the use of medicinal cannabis, making it hard for patients to get access to the drug.

They have staged a long march, which kicked off on Tuesday in Phichit province, to demand amendments to the narcotics law to remove cannabis from the list of narcotic drugs, to enable easier access by patients to medicinal cannabis.