A party-list lawmaker on Monday cautioned Congress against the “backdoor decriminalization” of marijuana through a proposed law legalizing it for medicinal use.
Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said there is a danger in enacting the proposed law as this would encourage the supposed medicinal use of the highly addictive banned drug.
“If other countries wish to destroy themselves by enabling medical
marijuana, then let them create their own problems. We Filipinos certainly do not want to degenerate into a nation of zombies,” Atienza, the senior deputy minority leader, said.
Atienza made the statement in reaction to the 63-member House committee on health’s decision to endorse for plenary approval the bill that would allow Filipinos to avail of marijuana for therapeutic purposes.
“We expect the bill to be put to the floor when Congress resumes session next month, and we intend to fight it off forcefully,” Atienza said, referring to House Bill 6517, or the proposed Act Providing Filipinos Right of Access to Medical Marijuana.
The Philippine Medical Association, the professional organization of Filipino physicians, has rejected the bill outright, declaring it “contrary to the policy of the State to safeguard the well-being of its citizenry.”
“Advocates of the bill argue that Filipino families should be allowed to use marijuana to provide artificial, mind-altering ‘highs’ to depressed teenagers as well as children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, when what these vulnerable kids truly need and deserve is extra loving care and emotional support,” Atienza said.
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, principal author of the bill, said the use of cannabis will be strictly monitored and regulated; and that only qualified patients will be prescribed to use the medicine by a bona fide doctor.
But Atienza warned that criminal drug traffickers are bound to exploit ‘medical marijuana’ as cover to boost the recreational use of the drug and enlarge their nefarious trade.
“What makes marijuana even more menacing is that many young Filipinos are known to first experiment on the substance, before they eventually use harder drugs,” Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, pointed out.
“Marijuana is a gateway drug. Pushers in schools purposely use marijuana to entice students to use drugs for the first time, before they are introduced to shabu,” Atienza said.
At present, marijuana is classified as a prohibited substance, just like methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, cocaine and heroin, under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Under the law, mere possession of at least 500 grams of marijuana, or at least 10 grams of marijuana concentrate (resin or resin oil), is punishable by life in prison plus a fine of up to P10 million. Carrying lesser quantities of the drug is punishable by 12 to 20 years in prison plus a fine of up to P500,000.
The World Health Organization considers marijuana an extremely harmful substance that produces in users a dangerous dependency.