Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte reiterated on Sunday, April 13 his belief that marijuana has "healing properties", thus giving Philippine lawmakers all the reason they need to have its use legalized. 

“I truly believe that cannabis is a healing compound, healing plant. More than that, it can be a cash crop," Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA), said in a statement. 

"In China alone, they're supplying more than half of the world's hemp. While it is illegal in China to plant—to consume marijuana for medicinal and others—it supplies half of the world's hemp, and when you say hemp, that is CBD, wala pong psychoactive property yan (that has no psychoactive property).” 

CBD stands for Cannabidiol--an active ingredient in cannabis that is derived from the hemp plant. 

“When you talk about medical use, we want to strictly promote medical CBD or medical cannabis. In fact, ayaw ko na pong tawagin natin yan na (I don't want to refer to it) as medical marijuana because when you call it marijuana, there's already a connotation that it has the psychoactive property,” he said. 

Villafuerte was alluding to the buzz or "high" sought after by marijuana smokers or drug abusers. 

“When you say CBD, it’s the one with no psychoactive property. Pag sinabi mo nang (Wen you say) THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), that’s the major psychoactive component na yung nakaka-high (that creates the high)," the Bicolano said. 

In a joint the joint hearing of House Committees on Dangerous Drugs and on Health earlier this month, Villafuerte sponsored his bill, House Bill (HB) No.4208, which sought to create the Philippine Cannabis Development Authority. 

"And under the bill, and I think even the bills of my colleagues, we're only allowing 0.3 THC in CBD. That is what we're trying to push.”  

He further said CBD is legal in 31 states of the United States (US) and in 59  other countries, while THC is illegal in almost every part of the world. 

The joint hearing concluded with the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to consolidate Villafuerte’s bill with eight other similar measures.