MANILA, July 23 (Mabuhay) –Senator Robinhood “Robin” Padilla on Friday pushed for the legalization of medical marijuana as a “compassionate alternative means of medical treatment.”
Padilla filed Senate Bill No. 230 which also seeks the expansion of research into the medicinal properties of marijuana or cannabis which he cited as a popular medicine in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
He said that it has been widely used as herbal medicine to treat conditions of “gout, rheumatism, malaria, and poor memory.”
Under the bill, medical cannabis, which refers to products such as capsules and oil, and not raw cannabis, may be used on a “qualified patient who has been diagnosed by a certifying physician as having a debilitating medical condition.”
It also defines “debilitating medical condition” to include cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous system of the spinal cord, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis or similar chronic autoimmune deficiency, diseases requiring hospice care, severe nausea, sleep disorders, mood disorders, recurring migraine headaches, and other debilitating medical conditions identified by the Department of Health through the Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee.
Meanwhile, the DOH was designated as the principal regulatory agency that shall establish Medical Cannabis Compassionate Centers (MCCCs) in public tertiary hospitals.
The Health Department will also set up a prescription…
