The government's approval of a minor regulation change in the anti-drugs law is a step in the right direction. Both the cabinet and the prime minister's Office of Narcotics Control Board announced last week they support the change, which will allow human testing of medical marijuana. Testing of possible positive use of cannabis has been under way for some time, but results are theoretical, based only on laboratory tests including on animals.
The new regulation will have no effect on enforcement of laws banning possession or sale of any type of cannabis, medical or recreational. Cannabis remains a Level 5 illegal drug under the Narcotics Control Act. But the change is a sign that Thailand is at least willing to discuss badly needed reform of the "war on drugs". This 50-year war was lost long ago. These last two years of talk about reform of the anti-drug protocols will be seen in the future as equally lost time.
The ultimate reason for the regulation change permitting expanding research is that initial testing has yielded positive results. Most of the national attention has been focused for the past year on Rangsit University just north of Bangkok. Researchers in the university have gone past testing done elsewhere in the world. Specifically, they think they may have come up with proof that cannabis is effective against a particular and painful form of cancer.
