The Public Health Ministry has unveiled its list of so-called "herbal champions", but cannabis, hemp and kratom have been omitted, according to the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine.
Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, the department chief, said on Tuesday the government plans to promote local herbs under the list and ideally develop them for export. Herbs on the list include turmeric, krachai dam or black galingal, and fah talai jone or green chiretta.
He said cannabis, hemp and kratom have not yet made the cut after a policy committee on national herbs led by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul agreed recently that their use must be limited, adding further research and development is required.
Dr Thongchai said the use of cannabis to treat ailments and diseases is still restricted to a relatively small group of people in the kingdom.
Some use it to mitigate the effects of epilepsy, chemotherapy, spasticity and neuralgia.
But further studies are needed to see if it can be used as a treatment for other diseases such as diabetes.
"We have not yet put cannabis on the list of herbal champions, but we will review the list every two months and we can add cannabis or hemp and kratom in the future," he said.
"We do believe that more research and development will be widely done in the future because cannabis is now not a narcotic drug. Putting it back to the narcotic list will make it very difficult for research and development in a meaningful way," Dr Thongchai added.
The committee declared fah talai jone, turmeric and black galingal as "herbal champions" on Monday given their strong potential to be mass-produced for export markets, he said.
Cannabis, hemp and kratom are among 12 potential candidates to join the list, along with aromatic ginger, aloe vera, and makham pom or Indian gooseberry, among others.
The department also approved plans under the second action plan for national herbs BE 2566-2570, covering strategies to promote Thai herbs from upstream to downstream operations in the supply chain.
The plan involves 73 projects with a budget of 260 million baht and includes a project to improve local herbs, promote smart farming techniques and boost research and development.
