Anyone one in Thailand who wants to grow cannabis and hemp at home for personal use will legally be able to do so from June 9.
People will also be able to import cannabis seeds and other parts of the plant, Dr Withid Sariddeechaikool, deputy secretary-general of the FDA.
The move comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that the plants will no longer be classified as a category 5 narcotic.
While people will not be breaking any laws by growing cannabis or hemp, nor will they need prior approval in order to start growing, they are required to register themselves as a grower via the FDA’s Plu Kan mobile application.
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Despite Thailand relaxing its laws regarding cannabis and hemp, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound which gets users ‘high’, for the most part, remains illegal.
Cannabis that contains more than 0.2 percent THC will still be classed as a category 5 narcotic and therefore is illegal.
By comparison, cannabis purchased in the famous coffeeshops in Amsterdam, on average, normally contains around 15 percent THC.
Meanwhile, people wishing to grow cannabis and hemp for commercial purposes need to obtain permission from the FDA.
The news comes after Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul recently announced plans that will see the Thai government distribute one million cannabis plants to people throughout the country in order to encourage people to grow cannabis as a ‘household crop’.
The relaxation of the laws surrounding cannabis and hemp is part of the government’s plan to develop cannabis into a so-called ‘cash crop’.
“This will enable people and the government to generate more than 10 billion baht per year in revenue from marijuana and hemp,” Anutin wrote on social media in May.
