After their extracts were delisted as Category 5 narcotics, the Commerce Ministry's Intellectual Property Department has said that it had approved two patents on cannabis and hemp inventions.
Vuttikrai Leewiraphan, the department's director-general, said the department had received 31 requests for the cannabis and hemp exemption. Eleven of the 13 requests were for machines and methods to extract cannabis chemicals, six for food and beverages, and four for herbal medicinal products with the ingredients.
The Narcotics Act (No.7), which comes into effect on February 9, allows for the medical use of cannabis and kratom. The law also permits the use of various parts of cannabis and hemp, except flower heads, for other purposes.
For the first five years after the legislation, only government agencies acting alone or in collaboration with other organizations are allowed to use the plants.
Many food and beverage producers are starting to file patent requests with the department, according to Visit Limluecha, president of the Thai Food Processors Association.
They still had to wait for the FDA to issue regulations defining the maximum legal quantities of cannabis and hemp in foods and beverages.
Mr. Wiset said that the FDA needed to clearly set the levels of psychoactive compounds in cannabis and hemp since each patient responded differently to them.
Some restaurants and bakeries in the country have started to use cannabis leaves in their foods and drinks, which the president says could increase their market value by 10% if current consumer trends on cannabis by-products continue.
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