The Medical marijuana bill is dead, according to Buhay party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza.
“We won’t allow a pandemic of psychotic disorders to grip the country,” he said.
He says he sees no future for the bill seeking to legalize medical marijuana in the Philippines.
“As far as we’re concerned, the bill proposing to grant Filipinos the right of access to medical marijuana is dead,” he said, dismissing it as “a smokescreen” for the drug’s eventual legalization for recreational use.
“We will not allow a pandemic of psychotic disorders to grip our country—not during our watch in Congress.
“We don’t want to create another problem. We are already being overwhelmed by a shabu epidemic that is destroying the lives of many Filipino families and fostering corruption everywhere.”
Atienza says many of the United States of America’s states that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana are now reeling not only from gruesome mass shootings and gun violence but also from horrific road accidents.
“Just a few days ago, a prominent New York federal judge strolling in a sidewalk was killed in a hit-and-run incident. And the severely agitated driver involved was so high in medical marijuana that paramedics had to calm her down with 400 milligrams of the powerful anesthetic Ketamine,” Atienza said.
“Marijuana is a highly toxic and dangerous drug. Even worse, it is a gateway drug that can easily lure young Filipinos to experiment on other narcotics such as ecstasy and shabu.”