A day
after President Duterte joked about using marijuana to keep him awake;
he again reiterated his approval for the legalization of medical
marijuana.
A couple of years back, the President replied when asked
by a television reporter on the subject: “Medical marijuana, yes,
because it is really an ingredient of modern medicine. There are
medicines being developed, or are now in the market, that contain
marijuana for medical purposes.”
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that the
President was in favor of “controlled” and “regulated use of marijuana
for medical purposes.” The President strongly opposed to the use of
marijuana as a recreational drug.
Should we allow medical marijuana to be legalized here in
our country? This was what I posed in my social-media account recently. I
received a lot of answers.
The first person to make his comment was a medical doctor.
“Medical marijuana is used for ‘palliative care’ [for chronic pain,
nausea for patients undergoing chemotherapy, certain seizure disorders,
etc.],” he explained. “There are ‘conventional’ medicines with fewer
side effects that can address these conditions. Legalizing medical
marijuana is going to create more problems that it seeks to treat. We
must be careful what we wish for.”
A friend, whose father had a cancer, shared this
sentiment: “There are regulated drugs that you can buy in pharmacies
that require prescription from doctors. I just can’t remember the color
codes but when I was at the pharmacy, I was interrogated. Strict
verification was done before I was given that strong pain reliever for
my dad. Should marijuana be legalized for medical purpose, it should
follow the same regulation.”
A journalist from Cagayan de Oro City
seemed to go for it. “If it’s for medication, why not?”
To which another
one added, “As long as it is used for medical purposes.”
Another journalist from Manila, a female, also voted for
the legalization of medical marijuana. “A lot of cultures, including
ours, have long used marijuana for its medicinal properties. It’s just
like a cough syrup; it’s bad if you take too much. It’s time we harness
marijuana’s medicinal properties.”
But there are those who oppose it. “So,
you want more drug abuse in the Philippines?” one inquired.
Another
contemplated: “Cigarettes are more harmful than cannabis. So legal is
not always ethical.”
It must be recalled that in 2014, Isabela
Rep. Rodolfo Albano III filed House Bill no. 4477—the Compassionate Use
of Medical Cannabis Act. The Philippine Daily Inquirer described the bill as a “hotly-debated topic.”
“We are at this stage, we have Filipinos who need care, we
should give them compassionate care—this medical cannabis. There are a
lot of medicines, but they are expensive,” Leah Paquiz, one of the
bill’s coauthors, was quoted as saying.
The bill was rejected during the 16th Congress. But in
2017, the House of Representatives Committee on Health approved House
Bill 180 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act.
“The legalization of HB 180 has a long way to go,” the web
site marijuanadoctors.com observed.
“It will likely be revised
countless times and go through a series of debates and amendments. Then,
it will go to a vote in the House of Representatives, and a counterpart
will be voted on by the Senate.
Only once it’s approved by both houses
will it go before the president to either sign or veto. The bill has
some vocal detractors, so it may take a while to pass.”
The web site said that only the Medical Cannabis
Compassionate Centers (MCCCs) and Medical Cannabis Research and Safety
Compliance Facilities licensed by the Department of Health “will be
authorized to cultivate medical marijuana.” In addition, “only MCCCs can
distribute cannabis medications to patients. If the new law passes,
only these facilities, medical marijuana patients and caregivers will be
exempt from civil and criminal liability.”
The Cannabis Act has set number of
conditions to qualify patients for medical marijuana treatments.
Among
the debilitating conditions included are cancer, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis, spinal cord damage or intractable spasticity, post-traumatic
stress disorder, human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune
deficiency syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis or other chronic autoimmune
inflammatory disorders, and admission to hospice care.
It must be pointed out here that marijuana isn’t legalized
yet in the country. The penalty for possession has some serious
consequences, depending on the amount a person carries. If the
authorities catch a person carrying ten grams or more, the penalty
ranges from life in prison to the death penalty and a fine ranging from
half a million to 10 million pesos.
If it is between 5 and 10 grams, the penalty ranges from
20 years to life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P400,000 to
P500,000. If it is less than 5 grams, the penalty is 12 to 20 years in
prison and a fine ranging from P300,000 to P400,000. By just possessing a
drug paraphernalia and equipment, the penalty is six months to four
years in prison and ranging from P10,000 to P50,000.
The year 2018 will soon end. Newsweek believes 2018 will
go down in history as “a year of global change. This is as far
marijuana—known in the science world as Cannabis sativa—is concerned.
“We’ve seen massive changes overtake a global cannabis
culture already establishing itself at a remarkable pace,” the American
magazine pointed out. “Canada has joined Uruguay as the second country
in the world to legalize cannabis for adult use, markets in the US are
growing with every election season, and even countries like
Lebanon—whose long-standing diplomatic efforts with the West and its
drug warriors caused a long tradition of excellent cannabis to fall by
the wayside—are rethinking their relationship to the plant.”
Meanwhile, former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan is in
favor of the legalization of medical marijuana. His reason: “More people
in the Philippines are suffering from epilepsy and other neurological
disorders. It is safer and cheaper way to treat patients.”
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