Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Rep. Villafuerte's office)

A veteran congressman is hopeful that the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs' (CND) official recognition of the medicinal value of cannabis oil (cannabidiol or CBD) can sway the Senate into speeding up the passage of its bill on the legalization of medical marijuana. 

This, as Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte highlighted the United Nations (UN) CND's statement that medical marijuana or cannabis has non-addictive therapeutic benefits. 

“With the House’s third and final approval of HB No.10439 in the previous legislative  session, what we only need now is for our senators to act on their counterpart measure, in the hope that we can come up with an enrolled bill for submission to, and enactment into law by, President Marcos this third and final session of the 19th Congress,” said Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP). 

The Bicolano is the lead author of HB (House Bill) No.10439, also known as the “Access to Medical Cannabis Act”.  

“I am more upbeat that the Congress will be able this time around to finally write a law allowing qualified patients with debilitating diseases to use CBD as an alternative treatment for their afflictions 

Villafuerte said that Committee Report (CR) No. 210, which endorsed for plenary discussions Senate Bill (SB) No.2573, was likely to win majority support as it was already  signed by 13 senators during the previous second regular session. The 19th Congress is now on its third and final regular session. 

This counterpart bill in the Senate was principally authored by Senator Robinhood Padilla. 

READ THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/30/house-gives-final-nod-to-bill-legalizing-medical-marijuana

The CND, which is the drug policy-making body of the UN, has reclassified medical cannabis from the international listing, where it was originally classified with heroin, fentanyl analogus, and other opioids as substances harmful to public health. 

Villafuerte noted that the CND decision was based on the recommendation of the 41st Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) of the World Health Organization (WHO) to reclassify medical cannabis because it was found to have no potential for abuse of, or to case dependence among humans.   

After a formal review of cannabis and cannabis-related substances, the ECDD said that it actually had significant health benefits for treatment-resistant epilepsy, and therefore should not be placed under international control. 

Both HB No.10439 and SB No. 2573 propose the creation of a Medical Cannabis Office (MCO) to oversee the licensing and use of CBD oil for medical purposes.