BACOLOD City – President Rodrigo Duterte reconsidered his position on the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.
“Not in my time. Some other president, maybe,” Duterte said in Victorias City, Negros Occidental late Friday night, March 8 at a campaign sortie of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
The President said he was worried that legalizing medical marijuana would result to the proliferation of marijuana plantations.
“I do not intend to legalize it. Ayaw ko. Gawain mo lang excuse ‘yan eh. Magtatanim ka, sabihin mo, medicinal man kaya ‘to,’” said Duterte.
The President previously said he supported moves in Congress to legalize medical marijuana.
Last month, the House of Representatives approved a measure allowing the use of marijuana in treating chronic or debilitating medical condition and establishing Medical Cannabis Compassionate Centers (MCCC) which will be authorized to sell, supply and dispense cannabis to qualified patients or their caregivers through licensed pharmacists.
Under the proposed measure, the license of the MCCC will be issued by the Department of Health and will be based in department-retained hospitals, specialty hospitals and private tertiary hospitals.
Some doctors have expressed opposition on medical cannabis, saying its efficacy has yet to be confirmed.
The use of medical marijuana is legal in California and some other parts of the United States, Canada, and Poland, among others.
“You must remember that heroin, cocaine and their derivatives are products of opium poppy plant. So matagal masyado magtama, if at all. Talagang mabuang (It takes time to be absorbed, if at all. You get crazy). Plant ‘yan eh (That’s a plant). Marijuana. They are cultivated,” said Duterte in Victorias City./PN
