TACLOBAN CITY -- The proposal to legalize the use of medical marijuana has earned support from a regional party-list citing its value to cure diseases.
An Waray Partylist chairman Florencio Noel said their group will actively participate in the discussion of legalizing marijuana for medical use once deliberated in the House of Representatives.
“I am not against the use of marijuana if it is already legal for it has been scientifically proven that it can really cure,” Noel told reporters on Tuesday.
The party-list has been represented in the House of Representatives since 2004.
Noel, the party-list’s first nominee, insisted that any possible medical use of marijuana should still be supervised and regulated by the government, adding that it could be abused by some.
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier admitted using marijuana patch to ease the pain from multilevel cervical spondylosis, an aging-associated condition characterized by neck pain.
The former president is one of the authors of House Bill 6517 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Bill, which seeks to legalize the use of marijuana or cannabis for medical purposes.
Malacañang earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte is in favor of marijuana use, but only for therapeutic purposes. (PNA)
