{"id":7768,"date":"2017-10-04T00:23:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T00:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=6687"},"modified":"2017-10-04T00:23:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T00:23:33","slug":"philippines-house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/philippines-house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines: House Panel Approves Medical Marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/philippines-house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Advocates of medical marijuana are in high spirits after the health committee of the House of Representatives endorsed a bill allowing the use of cannabis to treat chronic or debilitating health conditions.<\/p>\n<p>The House panel on Monday unanimously approved the committee draft report on the proposed Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act following extensive consultations with patients, advocacy groups, health-care practitioners and experts in the regulation of controlled substances, according to Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, the principal author of the measure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel high. There is high morale because finally the bill will reach plenary,\u201d Albano told the Inquirer.<\/p>\n<p>Under parliamentary procedures, the bill would be put through debate and presented to the entire 293-member House for approval in a plenary session.<\/p>\n<p>President Rodrigo Duterte, despite his tough campaign against illegal drugs, has expressed support for the medical use of marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are medicines being developed, or are now in the market, that contain marijuana for medical purposes,\u201d the President has said, adding that he opposed recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Albano said the proposed law, which substituted House Bill No. 180 he had authored, would \u201clegalize and regulate the medical use of cannabis,\u201d Albano said.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmaker said the previous House leadership did not prioritize his original bill as the current one did.<\/p>\n<p><b>Medical studies<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Albano cited studies that showed marijuana could be used to control epileptic seizures, pain management in multiple sclerosis and arthritis, treatment of symptoms associated with HIV-AIDS and palliative care in end-stage cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Clinical trials also indicate the potential medical effects of cannabis use, including cancer prevention, anxiety management, slowdown of the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and control of muscle spasms and tremors, Albano said.<\/p>\n<p>To appease concerns that the law might be abused, Albano said the measure expressly prohibited marijuana smoking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is very clear in the bill that you can\u2019t smoke weed per se. You cannot even dispense it in its raw form and say, \u2018just use this for tea.\u2019 It has to be in medicinal form,\u201d the congressman said.<\/p>\n<p><b>Compassionate centers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Cannabis oil, which contains the medicinally potent properties of the marijuana plant, is administered orally with a medicine dropper.<\/p>\n<p>Medical marijuana can also be in tablet, capsule or \u201cedible\u201d form, according to Albano.<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposal, \u201cmedical cannabis compassionate centers\u201d licensed by the Department of Health (DOH) will be established to sell, supply and dispense cannabis to qualified patients or their caregivers by a pharmacist licensed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).<\/p>\n<p><b>Testing services<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Facilities will also be built to conduct scientific and medical research on the uses of cannabis and provide testing services for its potency and contaminants.<\/p>\n<p>Qualified patients will be issued identification cards by the DOH after they have been certified to have debilitating medical conditions and should receive the therapeutic or palliative benefits from cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>The DOH will be the principal regulatory agency in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n<p>The PDEA will play a key role in monitoring and regulating the dispensation of medical marijuana in medical facilities.<\/p>\n<p><b>Opposition support<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In an auspicious sign for the bill, even lawmakers from the opposition expressed support for the measure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a cosponsor of that bill,\u201d said Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin.<\/p>\n<p>Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said: \u201cI support it, too, as long as it\u2019s medical marijuana. In other countries, marijuana is not even a prohibited drug.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Albano said senators were waiting for the House to pass the bill before drafting their own version, but a law proposed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros to establish community-based programs to deal with drug problems included a provision allowing the \u201cdelivery, possession, transfer, transportation, or use of cannabis and other dangerous drugs intended for medical use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe patient, caregiver, physician, or medical researcher who delivers, transports, uses, acquires, administers, cultivates, or manufactures dangerous drugs for medical purposes shall be exempt from criminal liability,\u201d according to the Hontiveros bill.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/philippines-house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Ron Strider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/933679\/house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House panel approves medical marijuana | Inquirer News<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: DJ Yap<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/services.inquirer.net\/contactus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contact Us &#8211; INQUIRER.net Services | INQUIRER.net Services<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: PAUL BUCKOWSKI<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inquirer.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">INQUIRER.net | Philippine news for Filipinos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advocates of medical marijuana are in high spirits after the health committee of the House of Representatives endorsed a bill&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/10\/philippines-house-panel-approves-medical-marijuana\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1616,9,1,3],"tags":[4184],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}