Cannabis News Around The World: Argentina's New Agency, Thai Police Inspections, Greece's Grow Facility & More

Inspections Of Bangkok Cannabis Stores Underway

A Thailand store selling cannabis had its license temporarily suspended following an inspection by officials from the Department of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (DTCM) and Bang Sue police.

Thai PBS World reported that the store allowed its customers to smoke cannabis on its property, which is illegal under an edict from the Public Health Ministry.

Cannabis was decriminalized in Thailand in 2022, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to do so.

Ever since, the country's government has been issuing ad hoc regulations as a way to set up a regulatory framework for the sector, including a recent rule that Thai nationals need to show their ID cards when purchasing cannabis.

Greece's New Facility Will Supply Medical Cannabis To EU Countries

Greece got its first-ever medicinal cannabis production plant at Examilia, in Corinth, reported Greek Reporter.

Tikun-Olam Cannbit's TKUN subsidiary, Tikun Europe, was welcomed by Greek Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis on Thursday.

Georgiadis said that medicinal cannabis produced at the new facility has the capacity to supply "all major European countries" with cannabis.

Nikos Beis, CEO of Tikun Europe, touted the factory as one of the largest pharmaceutical facilities on the continent, which is expected to produce 10 tons of dry cannabis flower annually.

"A new era is beginning for our country with the operation of our Tikun Europe facility, paving the way for Greece to become one of the main players in the field of production and export of medical cannabis products," Beis said.

Argentina Sets Up National Cannabis Agency

The new agency, set up on Wednesday, will regulate and promote the newly launched cannabis industry, reported Reuters.

As of Thursday, the agency's first working group focused on regularizing programs and coordinating with various provinces and the industrial sector.

"This opens the door for Argentina to start a new path in terms of industrial exports, on the basis of huge global demand," Economy Minister Sergio Massa said at a conference launching the national hemp and cannabis agency, ARICCAME.

In early May 2022, Argentina's Congress approved a law to create a regulatory framework for public and private investments in producing hemp and cannabis products.

Japan To Legalize MMJ, Criminalize Rec Use

The latest effort to allow the use of medical marijuana for patients with such conditions as intractable epilepsy may criminalize the use of recreational marijuana, reported The Japan News.

The government is poised to submit several bills during the current Diet session that would amend the Cannabis Control Law.

The country's health ministry first held a meeting last year to negotiate the revision of the Cannabis Control Law from 1948.

The ministry plans to revise current law by forbidding certain parts of the cannabis plant rather than the plant itself, making it easier to allow medical marijuana products. It will also discuss adding a new provision to the Cannabis Control Law to criminally punish cannabis possession and consumption, except for medicinal purposes.

In September, a Japanese health ministry panel recommended that marijuana-derived medicines be treated like pharmaceuticals.

Photo: Benzinga edit of photo by Greg Rosenke and Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash