A bill legalizing the use of medical marijuana will benefit patients in the form of cheap medicines and will contribute to government revenues.
Dr. Donnabel Cunanan, spokesperson of the Philippine Cannabis Compassion Society (PCCS), said medical marijuana would be a big help in pain management for cancer patients as well as for those suffering from insomnia and epilepsy and other “debilitating medical conditions.”
She added medical marijuana is not a synthetic drug that has side effects, citing the case of her child who is suffering from pancreatitis due to side effects of synthetic medicines.
Cunanan made this comment in response to Senator Robin Padilla’s bill seeking to legalize the compassionate use of marijuana for medical purposes in the country.
The measure also includes further research into marijuana medicinal use and applicable safeguards under the law.
“Gusto naming ito ay ma-produce na natin sa ating bansa. That’s the only way na maging affordable sa ating mamamayan,” Cunanan said.
The PCCS was established in 2013 and has now at least 80,000 members, seeking to make medical marijuana “safe and available” in the Philippines.
Dr. Gem Marq Mutia, founder of the Philippine Society of Cannabinoid Medicine, said the government will also benefit if Padilla’s bill becomes a law through appropriate revenues once medical marijuana is manufactured in the country.
“Ang kagandahan, imbes na mapunta sa ibang bansa ang kita, mapupunta sa tax ng gobyerno. Pwedeng gamitin bilang pag-aral at pag-research lalo sa medical cannabis,” he said. – PNA
