The Thai government, unlike most other governments, will put all marijuana seized from traffickers to good use.
On Monday, Thailand’s Secretary-General of the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), Niyom Termsrisuk, announced that the Public Health Ministry approved distribution of all seized cannabis back into the nation’s newly-legalized medical marijuana program. Only weed that passes stringent lab testing for pesticides, heavy metals, molds, and adulterants will be redistributed and turned into medicinal products.
“We are sure we can hand over the cannabis in our possession to registered organizations for producing cannabinoid medicines by the end of this month,” Niyom said, according to the Asia News Network.
In December 2018, Thailand became the first Southeast Asian nation to legalize medical marijuana. However, its licensed pot farms haven’t yet harvested enough weed to sell it en masse. Thai officials hope that dispensing cannabis confiscated from illicit drug dealers could alleviate some of the country’s medical weed shortages.
Thailand’s plan for seized weed sounds much better than America’s policy, where government agencies incinerate all confiscated cannabis, even in states where marijuana is legal.
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