Ask your office bestie, your straight-edge uncle, your Gen Z niece, your go-to nail tech, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, or the average Joe on the street about how they feel about legalizing cannabis for specific uses. Chances are, the responses you’ll get will be as varied as the nicknames people have given marijuana over the years.

Despite the mixed feelings of Pinoys on the matter, supporters and lobbyists of regulated marijuana use have made big progress as of late. Just this year, a drafted medical marijuana use bill received a stamp of approval from 13 senators, which means that the Philippines is one step closer to joining the 40 countries that have fully or partially legalized cannabis use for medical and/or recreational purposes. Note that this isn’t a law yet. As of this writing, marijuana use for any reason is still illegal, and hefty punishments still await those who violate the law. Senate Bill 2573 otherwise known as the 'Cannabis Medicalization Act of the Philippines,” has yet to be debated in the Senate where different stakeholders are expected to present convincing evidence for or against its passing into law.

Should this bill become law, it strictly limits cannabis use for medical purposes. No one should expect college dorm rooms and basements to be filled with marijuana paraphernalia because they can. More specifically, it'll be up to the Philippine Medical Cannabis Authority, which the Department of Health manages, to regulate cannabis use. Only qualified patients suffering from severely debilitating conditions and diseases will be granted permission. Patients seeking relief from conditions such as, but not limited to, chronic pain, nausea caused by cancer treatments, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis are prescribed marijuana in countries where its use has been given the go in medical settings.

The specifics of this bill have yet to be discussed, but so far, what the public knows is that it will cover the areas of the “acquisition, possession, transportation, delivery dispensing, administration, cultivation, or manufacturing” of marijuana in the Philippines. The Department of Health has also made it clear that marijuana is not being touted as a treatment for diseases whose relationship with the use of the drug has not yet been fully researched. In other words, marijuana is not being touted as a cure for sickness, and under no circumstances should anyone experiment with it in this manner should it be legalized for medical use.

If this bill is approved, qualified patients will be given access through physicians and pharmacists with S3 licenses issued by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. The Department of Health is also looking into partnering with specialty hospitals and private tertiary hospitals, as well as establishing what’s called Medical Cannabis Compassionate Centers, that can sell, supply, and dispense cannabis to qualified patients or their caregivers.

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The bill has a long way to go, but considering that an entire decade has passed since the first-ever piece of marijuana legislation made it to Congress, it’s gone leaps and bounds. And there you have it. These are the basics of what everyone curious about the Philippine legal system’s changing attitudes toward cannabis use are. For more information, ask your doctor about this and how you might benefit from medical marijuana use.

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