The debate about the use of medical marijuana rages on.
While it is legal in some countries, it remains a touchy topic for medical professionals.
What does incoming president Rodrigo Duterte have to say about it? He said he supports it, reports Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“Medicinal marijuana – yes, because it is really an ingredient of medicine now,” Duterte told reporters in a press conference. “There are medicines right now being developed or already in the market that contain marijuana as a component.”
The tough-talking mayor, however, emphasized that recreational marijuana is still a prohibited item under the law.
The Philippine Medical Association earlier said that there was no sufficient evidence that prove the benefits of medical marijuana.
On the other hand, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said that they are okay with using medical marijuana for the terminally ill.
Isabela representative Rodolfo Albano III has already proposed House Bill 4477 or “The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Bill” which seeks to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the Philippines.
The Bill calls for the creation of a Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority which is tasked to issue registry identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers.
Albano has said that the measure “contains very stringent control provisions on the use of medical marijuana to prevent any abuse and harm patients legally allowed or authorized by doctors to use it.”
If passed, that would make the Philippines the first country in Asia to legalize the use of mediciinal marijuana. Now that’s a different kind of high.
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