Under current South Korean law, safe access to medical cannabis is very limited. Suffering patients can only obtain legally imported medical cannabis products, and only if the patients are diagnosed with a qualifying condition and receive official approval. A lawmaker is trying to modernize the nation’s medical cannabis laws and regulations to permit domestic production, among other changes.

“An opposition lawmaker has proposed legislation that would reclassify cannabis-derived medicines with proven medical benefits as psychotropic drugs, paving the way for their domestic production and supply.” reported Korea Biomedical Review in its local coverage. “Rep. Kim Hyeong-dong of the opposition People Power Party (PPP), a member of the National Assembly’s Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, said Monday that he had introduced an amendment to the Narcotics Control Act for that purpose.”

“The bill would classify cannabis-derived substances used for therapeutic purposes, including cannabidiol (CBD), as psychotropic drugs. The amendment would establish the legal basis for manufacturing and obtaining marketing approval for medicines containing these ingredients in Korea.” the outlet also reported. “The proposal also includes provisions to establish and operate a Medical Narcotics Raw Material Management Center to ensure a stable supply and oversight of medical cannabis ingredients. Under the plan, the government would oversee the entire process—from cultivation and extraction of raw materials to the production of finished pharmaceutical products—to stabilize supply while minimizing the risk of misuse.

If the proposal is eventually approved and becomes law in South Korea, the nation would still have a restrictive medical cannabis model compared to many other countries around the world, such as Canada and Germany. However, the recently introduced measure would still be an improvement over what is currently in place in South Korea.

Roughly a year ago, researchers in South Korea conducted a study involving “a chemical investigation of the flowers of C. sativa” and isolated previously unknown cannabinoids. The team’s findings were published in the academic journal Pharmaceuticals.

“Eleven compounds were isolated from the flowers of C. sativa, including two new compounds, namely cannabielsoxa (1), 132-hydroxypheophorbide c ethyl ester (2), and six known cannabinoids (6–11), together with the first isolation of chlorin-type compounds: pyropheophorbide A (3), 132-hydroxypheophorbide b ethyl ester (4), and ligulariaphytin A (5) from this plant.” the researchers stated.

The isolation and identification of the two new compounds were very exciting and provide researchers with new elements of the cannabis plant to focus on in future investigations. It will likely be a while before more is known about the new compounds and how their properties may be harnessed to benefit humans.

“The evaluation of the biological activities of compounds showed that compounds 4–10 could be considered as the potential compounds for antitumor effects against neuroblastomas. This is also highlighted by using docking analysis. Additionally, the results of this study also suggest that these compounds have the potential to be developed into antineuroblastoma products.” the researchers concluded.