The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine has issued administrative order guidelines increasing penalties for cannabis shops that violate the Ministry's announcement, with immediate license revocation for repeat offenses.
Under the “Controlled Herbs (Cannabis) B.E. 2568,” the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine has issued administrative order guidelines increasing penalties for cannabis operators who violate conditions, imposing license suspensions of 30 to 90 days.
Violations include failure to prepare or submit reports P.T.27 and P.T.28, failure to display licenses, selling or exporting controlled herbs without standards, advertising violations, and failure to report export details. Additionally, if false reports are made, sales are made to vulnerable groups, smoking is allowed on premises, sales occur online or via vending machines, or sales occur in prohibited areas, repeat offenses will lead to license revocation.
Dr. Thewan Thaneerat, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, stated that following the Ministry of Public Health's recent announcement on Controlled Herbs (Cannabis) B.E. 2568, the Department has developed
guidelines for issuing administrative orders to increase penalties including license suspension and revocation for licensees who study, research, export, sell, or process controlled herbs for commercial purposes. These guidelines are to be followed by officials and all operators. Details are as follows: 1. License suspension for 30 days applies to failures such as not preparing or submitting reports P.T.27 and P.T.28 at establishments for inspection, incomplete reports, or failure to submit reports to the registrar; selling or exporting controlled herbs not certified for Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) or equivalent standards; failure to display licenses publicly at establishments or inability to show licenses electronically to officials; and advertising controlled herbs commercially.
2. License suspension for 90 days applies to failure to notify export details to the licensing authority and selling cannabis without a prescription.
(form P.T.33) issued by a professional practitioner.
Dr. Thewan also added that if false P.T.27 or P.T.28 reports are found, or sales are made to
persons under 20 years old, students, university students, pregnant women, or breastfeeding women without a controlled herb prescription (form P.T.33),
or if cannabis smoking is permitted on premises, or controlled herbs or processed products are sold via vending machines, online channels, electronic media, or computer networks, or sales occur in prohibited locations,
three such locations are temples, dormitories, and public parks, the license will be revoked.
Each license suspension period will accumulate for all violations but not exceed 90 days under Section 52 of the Thai Traditional Medical Wisdom Protection and Promotion Act B.E. 2542. However, if an operator repeats the same violation after a prior suspension, harsher penalties apply, including immediate license revocation for repeated offenses.
Dr. Peeracha Kukasemkit, Director of the Medical Cannabis Division, said that the administrative order guidelines for suspending and revoking licenses for licensees studying, researching, exporting, selling, or processing controlled herbs for commercial purposes will ensure that officials and operators across all sectors adhere to a unified approach.
Field inspections to oversee shops and operators at both central and regional levels are conducted to foster understanding between agencies and the private sector, ensuring compliance with the law, which promotes cannabis for medical benefits
and ensures safety for youth and vulnerable groups. It also promotes safe and sustainable medical cannabis use.
These measures will continue to support the safe and sustainable use of medical cannabis.