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A joint panel in the House of Representatives has approved in principle a substitute bill that consolidated several measures aiming to legalize the use of marijuana or cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The Committee on Dangerous Drugs and Committee on Health gave their approval on Wednesday, Feb. 7, to a still unnumbered bill that was crafted through a technical working group (TWG) meeting, with all proposed amendments taken into account.

The proposed law stated that cannabis shall only be utilized for medical reasons and not for recreational use.

In a subsequent press briefing, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the dangerous drugs panel, stressed that there was no provision in the bill that would give way to recreational pot sessions.

“As far as this proposed law is concerned, possession, cultivation, importation, and pushing and selling is still in violation of the existing law, yung (the) Republic Act (RA) No. 9165,” the lawmaker said.

“It’s not [about] the delisting of marijuana,” he added. “Considered dangerous drugs pa rin yung marijuana (Marijuana is still considered dangerous drugs)”.

Additionally, medical cannabis will only be allowed in its pharmaceutical form, by way of oral medicine or through injection.

It seeks to treat debilitating diseases as identified by a physician, as well as non-debilitating diseases such as anxiety and insomnia.

In the proposal, cannabis can only be prescribed to patients in need by an accredited medical cannabis physician.

These physicians who can issue prescriptions will follow strict regulations. If they are in violation of over-prescription, issuance to non-patients, and illegal selling, they will face a fine of P500,000 to P1 million or imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than six years, at the discretion of the court.

The Medical Cannabis Office (MCO) shall also be created, which will be a unit under the Department of Health (DOH).

Through coordination with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the MCO will regulate the issuance of permits to physicians who want accreditation, as well as to drug stores, hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries that are planning to sell medical cannabis.

After years of trying to legalize medical marijuana, Barbers said it is high time to pass the bill.

“We’re just opening the floodgates, para magkaroon ng mas malalim, mas matibay, mas komprehensibong pag-aaral dito. We have to allow this para ma-testing kung ito ba talaga ay epektibo,” the Committee on Dangerous Drugs chairperson said.

(We're just opening the floodgates, to have a deeper, stronger, more comprehensive study about it. We have to allow this to test if it is really effective.)

The proposed measure is now awaiting the start of upcoming committee hearings for its deliberation and further approval before proceeding to the plenary level.