PH House committee OKs medical marijuana bill

A bill legalizing marijuana for medical purposes was cleared at the Philippines’ House of Representatives’ health committee today.

According to a report in Inquirer.net, House Bill No. 180 or the proposed Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act can move to a vote after the committee agreed that marijuana, classified as a “dangerous drug” in the Philippines, “has been found effective in symptoms of chronic diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, among others.

This is the second time the bill was filed by Rep. Rodito Albano. This time, a technical working group was formed to scrutinize and hammer out the provisions of the bill.

If the bill passes into law, Medical Cannabis Compassionate Centers (MCCC) licensed by the Department of Health (DOH) would be established and placed in state-accredited hospitals, specialty hospitals, and private tertiary hospitals. These centers then would be allowed to sell, supply, and dispense cannabis to qualified patients or caregivers.

Pharmacists would have to be accredited by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to be able to sell marijuana.

The bill would also create a research and safety body, where they can legally conduct research on marijuana’s medical uses.

Those prescribed medical marijuana would also be issued an identification card.

While President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging a bloody war on drugs, targeting meth dealers and users, he has expressed support for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“Medicinal marijuana – yes, because it is really an ingredient of medicine now,” Duterte told reporters last May 2016. “There are medicines right now being developed or already in the market that contain marijuana as a component.”