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Arroyo says she uses medical marijuana
“There was a lot of objection to the bill from the House and from the Senate,” Arroyo said.
(Photo: KING RODRIGUEZ/ Presidential Photo)
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday, January 15, has seconded to the public the effectiveness of medical marijuana by revealing that she herself uses it to ease the pain she is suffering from her cervical spine problem.
Speaking to reporters in a chance interview during a medical mission in Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City, Arroyo said, “I really believe in medical cannabis. As you know I have my problem here (cervical spine) and when I’m in a country that allows it, I put a pain patch but here in the Philippines I cannot do it.
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Arroyo, who has multilevel cervical spondylosis, is one of the authors of House Bill (HB) No. 6517 also known as the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Bill that seeks to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the country.
Once enacted into law, the bill will establish medical cannabis compassionate center (MCCC) or entities that are “registered and licensed by the Department of Health (DOH) to acquire, possess, deliver, transfer, transport, sell, supply and dispense cannabis, devices or related supplies and educational materials to duly registered qualified patients.”
It will also create medical cannabis research and safety compliance facility (MCRSCF), also registered with the Health Department, which will “conduct scientific and medical research on medical use of cannabis and provides testing services for its potency and contaminants relative to its safe and efficient use, cultivation, harvesting, packaging, labelling, distribution, and proper security.”
The Pampanga congresswoman said she authored the bill, believing that it can help her and many other people. HB No. 6517, however, has yet to be approved by the House of the Representatives.
“There was a lot of objection to the bill from the House and from the Senate,” Arroyo said.
“We are just letting the legislative process take its course. Right now it’s on second reading,” she added.
The Palace earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte will sign any measure that seeks the legalization of medical marijuana in the Philippines.
Prior to this, Duterte, last December 3, admitted that he uses marijuana to keep him awake amid his jam-packed schedule but later took back what he said, explaining that it was only a joke.
[READ: Duterte admits marijuana use, says he was joking]
But Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Duterte’s fierce critic, dared the President to take a drug test and said it was too late for the latter to retract as he already ‘revealed that he himself is a drug addict.’
Malacañang, however, defended Duterte, saying that there is no need for the Chief Executive to undergo such test.
