Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower court’s decision today (Monday) dismissing a lawsuit, filed by six individuals, against Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and another health official, accusing them of committing a wrongful act by removing cannabis and hemp from Category 5 controlled drugs list.
The court confirmed the lower court’s ruling that the six plaintiffs, led by Smith Srisont, were not the parties who had been affected by the issuance of the ministerial regulation deleting cannabis and hemp from the list.
The Ministry of Public Health, however, later issued another ministerial regulation declaring cannabis flowers as a controlled traditional medicine. This means that anyone who possesses cannabis flowers for research, commercial distribution, export or processing must have a permit and must comply with a set of conditions such as:
- Cannabis flowers or processed cannabis flowers cannot be sold to people under 20, pregnant women or breast-feeding women or students.
- Cannabis flowers or processed cannabis flowers cannot be sold through vending machines or online platform and cannot be sold in temples, hostels, public parks, zoos or amusement parks.
