Solons support marijuana legalization bill

Wikipedia photo

MANILA — Despite criticisms earlier raised by some legislators in Congress, the bill which will legalize medical use of marijuana gets a nod from six lawmakers.

Six house representatives including 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, co-authored House Bill 4477.

HB 4477 or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act will legalize and regulate the medical use of medical cannabis.

The bill aims to balance the national drug control program to provide patients with debilitating medical condition appropriate medications and an adequate amount of treatment from the regulated use of the drug.

Cannabis has been proven to have beneficial and therapeutic uses to treat chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition.

The disease treated by the drugs include those 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
• severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those associated with multiple sclerosis.

“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,” said Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, author of the bill.

He added that the use of the drug as a medicine dates back to about 2,500-10,000 years ago in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine and is already accepted in the US.

Under the bill, the Department of Health, is mandated to establish a Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority which will regulate the use of the drug in the country.

The regulatory authority will also 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.

With reports from Philippine Star