MANILA — Medical marijuana advocates find hope in a new bill filed in the Congress seeking the legalization and regulation of marijuana’s medical use.
House Bill 4477 or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Bill, which seeks to regulate the use of dangerous drugs for medical treatment, was filed on Monday by Isabela 1st District Representative Rodolfo Albano III.
Cannabis, commonly known as Marijuana. “has been confirmed to have beneficial and therapeutic uses to treat chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition,” producing 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
Albano said in the bill’s explanatory note that it seeks “to provide accessible, affordable, safe medical cannabis to qualifying patients.”
While netizens earlier posted negative reactions on the creation of the said bill, Albano expressed in the bill that it is in compliance with government policy to balance its national drug control program.
To provide regulation for the drug’s use, the bill also seeks to establish a Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority under the Department of Health, which will regulate the medical use of cannabis in the country, issue registered identification cards to qualified patients, as well as maintain a registry of cannabis patients’ caregivers who will assist registered qualified patients.
It also seeks to create a Medical Cannabis Compassionate Center and Medical Cannabis Safety Compliance Facilities, which should not be located within 1,000 feet of pre-existing schools, colleges, or universities’ property line.
The bill also specifically mandates that security measures in preventing unauthorized entry as well as theft of marijuana should be made.
Once enacted, a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee for Medical Use of Cannabis will be created to oversee the bill’s implementation.
With reports from Jee Geronimo