Two House of Representatives committees jointly looking into the proposed legalization of medical cannabis have approved in principle a substitute bill creating a Medical Cannabis Office (MCO).
The MCO as proposed in the bill shall accredit, in coordination with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), qualified physicians who shall be authorized to prescribe cannabidoil (CBD) as an alternative treatment for certain ailments, as what is now practiced in more than 60 countries.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, said: “The proposed MCO, to be under DOH (Department of Health) supervision and control, shall be tasked likewise to accredit drugstores, hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries allowed to sell drugs containing CBD, which is the a non-addictive compound derived from the marijuana plant.”
Marijuana is on the list of the DDB’s dangerous drugs and will remain so under the proposed substitute bill.
Although the DOH-attached Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now issues compassionate special permits (CSPs) allowing qualified patients to use imported CBD drugs, Villafuerte said at the joint hearing that a new law authorizing the medical use of this alternative drug is still necessary because the FDA system for applying for CSP permits and importing drugs containing CBD is “so tedious, hard and expensive” that only one permit has been issued thus far by this agency.
Villafuerte is one of the lead authors of the consolidated substitute bill that was approved in principle by the House committees on dangerous drugs and on health in their joint hearing last week on the proposed legalization of medical cannabis.
He added that only the use of the non-addictive CBD from marijuana (cannabis sativa) for medical purposes is being decriminalized under the still unnumbered House bill (HB), as marijuana or “Indian hemp” shall remain on the list of dangerous or illegal drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act” of 2002.
“There is a question and ambiguity, as CBD is not legal per se (by itself). That’s why we want to pass a law,” he said. Although the UN (United Nations) has already reclassified cannabis and resins under an international listing that recognizes their medical value, it’s still on a case-to-case basis per country. And in this case, if you are caught in possession of CBD, you will be penalized.”
“For example, if you come from abroad and you bring in medical cannabis only in topical form, you will be arrested and penalized under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, so it’s illegal,” he said.
Villafuerte said during the joint hearing: “We are correcting this because even if the FDA is now authorized to issue special permits (CSPs) for patients to use CBD drugs as an alternative treatment, I asked them (FDA) during the last joint hearing how many permits they have issued, and they replied that only one CSP application has been approved over the years. This, I believe, is because the process is apparently so tedious, hard and expensive.”
In the current 19th Congress, Villafuerte refiled his bill with fellow CamSur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata along with the Bicol Saro partylist. He pointed out that other countries with zero tolerance for drug trafficking like China, Thailand and Singapore are either already producing medical cannabis or considering the legalization of the drug for medicinal purposes.