MANILA, Philippines — The controversial bill seeking to legalize the medical use of cannabis or marijuana was sponsored by Senator Robinhood Padilla on Wednesday.
During the Senate’s plenary session, Padilla delivered his sponsorship speech on Senate Bill No. 2573 under Committee Report No. 210, otherwise known as the Cannabis Medicalization Act of the Philippines.
“Napapanahon na po siguro upang dinggin natin ang hinaing ng mga magulang at pasyente na nagsusumamo upang maging legal na ang access sa lunas na kanilang lubhang kinakailangan,” said Padilla.
(Perhaps it is time for us to listen to the complaints of parents and patients who are pleading for legal access to the treatment they desperately need.)
In wooing his fellow lawmakers, Padilla enumerated the key points of his measure. According to him, legalizing medical access to marijuana entails the need to establish a Philippine Medical Cannabis Authority (PMCA).
“Ibinatay po natin ang anyo at istruktura ng PMCA sa Israel Medical Cannabis Agency (IMCA) sa ilalim po ito ng Israel Ministry of Health, na siyang awtorisado para sa pag-isyu ng permit sa mga pasyente o lisensya para makagamit po ng medical cannabis. Ito rin po ang nagtatasa, nagbibigay pahintulot at nag-iisyu ng mga angkop na permit sa lahat ng mga may kaugnayan sa cannabis,” he said.
As for “qualified patients” who will undergo medical cannabis treatment, Padilla identified them as any person who “has been diagnosed by a certified physician with a debilitating medical condition, and can receive therapeutic and palliative benefits from cannabis based on his or her own decision.”
“We make it clear that medical cannabis is a complementary treatment to be combined with the drugs that a patient is already using,” said Padilla.
Minor patients, on the other hand, need to secure approval from a “certified doctor” who would be then tasked to “explain to the patient and his custodial parent or legal guardian the risks and benefits of using medical cannabis as medicine.”
The measure specifically proposed that legal medical cannabis products be limited to the following forms: edibles, pills, oil, tincture, flower, topicals, and inhalers.
“We will only allow the importation of these products from countries with strict regulations and implementation in the past five years. It is also part of the regulation to ensure that the products we import are used in the country of origin,” said Padilla.
Pafilla believes that the passage of this measure would allow ailing Filipinos, especially the poor, to have access to “quality health services.”