Philippines On the Verge Of Welcoming Medical Marijuana

September 27,2017 Philippines

Despite being the world’s murder capital, Philippines has been quite strict with its drug offenders. An astonishing fact is that the legislative forces are ever willing to give medicinal marijuana a shot for this purpose. In fact, The House Committee of Philippines is currently open to any ideas on the matter.

A report published on the CNN said that the Philippines House Committee has recently accepted a proposed bill named “Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act,” This bill, if passed, will allow the patients of various diseases to seek medicinal marijuana as a remedy. This measure was brought on by Rodolfo Albano who is the First District Representative of Isabela. The bill is quite similar to the MMJ laws recently passed in the US.

It will create a system that allows for the production and distribution of MMJ. However, the regulations will be a bit restrictive. In other words, only people who are permitted by a doctor will be allowed to purchase the cannabis edibles. On the other hand, smoking marijuana will remain illegal under the proposal.

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Basically, the proposal was designed to cater to patients suffering from a wide range of medical conditions like multiple sclerosis or arthritis. The entire medical marijuana program will continue under the government’s supervision. MMJ will only be available to such patients through the Medicinal Cannabis Compassionate Centers as well as the hospitals that are being operated by the Department of Health.

The proposed bill will also be forming a research facility for the medical marijuana. It will be designed to test the different cannabis products and ensure safe consumption.

Unfortunately for the Philippines, they have people who don’t want cannabis to go all the way. The president of Philippines—Rodrigo Duterte—is still against the idea of legalizing recreational marijuana. On the brighter side, he is on board with its medical consumption. The President said that there are already different medical products in the market that have cannabis in them. He believes it is a part of modern society now.

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As for now, things aren’t any good for the people interested in consuming cannabis. In fact, if someone gets caught with marijuana right now, he or she will be subject to severe penalties like life imprisonment. In the worst-case scenario, the penalty for possessing marijuana could even be death. One of the reasons why House Committee members are working hard to push forward the legislation is that it will help them distinguish between the people who are actually in need of the drug, from those who just want to get high.

Albano talked on the matter saying that the bill is pretty clear on where it stands on the consumption of adult-use marijuana. He also said that the proposal does not say anything about decriminalizing the drug. The proposed bill will now be considered on the House Floor. However, the dates for that haven’t been decided yet. If they’re lucky, the meeting could be held within a month. Otherwise, advocates of the drug may even have to wait.

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