Dela Rosa bats for medical marijuana use

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald dela Rosa is not averse to allowing the use of medical marijuana in the country, provided it is strictly regulated.

Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police and the architect of the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war, said the sick should not be deprived of the benefits of medical marijuana.

“Provided we have enough safeguards on the use of medical marijuana, that there would be an agency that would make sure this would not be abused, I am OK with it,” he said in a television interview.

“Why do we deprive our countrymen of the chance to be cured of their illnesses with this simple marijuana?” he added.

Comes in oil form

Advocates of medical marijuana stress that it is different from the recreational drug that is prohibited under Philippine laws because it comes in oil form.

Dela Rosa admitted to having tried marijuana twice when he was a college student out of peer pressure.

He noted that marijuana tended to be a “downer,” as opposed to other drugs that are “uppers,” which make users hyper and prone to violence.

“The problem is not [with] the effect of marijuana turning a person violent. If you become addicted to marijuana, the violence would come in if you are deprived of it … That’s when you will become violent, so it’s still dangerous,” he said.

The medical marijuana bill filed in the 17th Congress failed to win enough support. —Leila B. Salaverria