6 lawmakers support marijuana legalization bill

MANILA, Philippines - Six legislators have expressed their support to the proposal to legalize the regulated use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora,  Pasay City Rep. Emi Calixto-Rubiano, OFW partylist Rep. Roy Señeres, Marinduque Rep. Regina Reyes, Masbate Rep. Elisa Olga Kho, and Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal all co-authored House Bill 4477.

Under the bill, or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act,  the State is directed  to provide measures to achieve a balance in the national drug control program so that patients with debilitating medical condition may receive adequate amount of treatment and appropriate medications from the regulated use of dangerous drugs. 

It provides the  legalization  and regulation of  the medical use of cannabis which has been confirmed to have beneficial and therapeutic uses to treat chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those associated with multiple sclerosis. 

The measure also mandates the establishment, under the Department of Health, of a Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority, which shall regulate the medical use of cannabis in the country. It shall be headed by a Director-General who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines from the list of specialist physicians recommended by the Secretary of Health.

The Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority shall issue registered identification cards to qualified patients after a careful review of the documents required by the Authority and included in the implementing rules and regulations of the Act.

An entity shall operate as a Medical Cannabis Compassionate Center (MCCC) after approval of its application and registration with the Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority.

A MCCC shall guarantee the appropriate dispensation of cannabis and shall not release more than the prescribed dosage for one month to a registered qualified patient or designated caregiver, the bill provides.

The author of the bill, Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, said he recorded use of cannabis as medicine goes back to about 2,500-10,000 years ago in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine.

"Modern research has confirmed the beneficial uses of cannabis in treating and alleviating the pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with a variety of debilitating medical conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV-AIDS as found by the National Institute of Medicine of the US in March 1999," he said.

Albano added that cannabis has many currently accepted medical uses in the US, having been recommended by thousands of licensed physicians and more than 500,000 patients in 21 states with medical marijuana laws.

Like the 20 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have enacted medical cannabis laws that remove criminal sanctions for the medical use of cannabis, define eligibility for such use, and allow some means of access, in most cases, through a dispensary, he said.