THE bill seeking to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes has once again hurdled the committee level in the House of Representatives.
The joint House committees on Dangerous Drugs and health approved the still unnumbered substitute bill, which is a consolidation of bills seeking to provide the right of access to medical cannabis “as a compassionate alternative means of medical treatment, expanding research into its medicinal properties.”
In the 17th Congress, congressmen approved on the third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 6517, or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act but it did not pass the Senate.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the dangerous drugs panel, however explained that cannabis will still be listed as an illegal drug as provided for by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act or Republic Act No. 9165.
The Health Department now allows the medical use of cannabis under a compassionate special permit but it will no longer be a requirement once the proposed bill becomes a law.
Under the bill, only cannabis in pharmaceutical form will be allowed as long as the one trying to purchase it has a prescription from an accredited physician who is treating a particular illness.
The bill seeks the creation of a Medical Cannabis Office (MCO) under the Department of Health to grant limited accreditations to doctors and other licenses but it still has to coordinate with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
The measure seeks to impose a penalty of imprisonment of at least six months but not more than six years, and/or a fine of P500,000 to P1 million for those who will be found faking illnesses or prescriptions.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the bill’s authors, has admitted having used the substance one time when he was abroad to relieve his “migraine and headaches.”
