MANILA, Philippines — A bill that gives select patients access to medicinal cannabis has been approved by the House of Representatives on the third and final reading.
During the session on Tuesday, 177 lawmakers voted in favor of House Bill No. 10439 or the proposed Access to Medical Cannabis Act, with nine lawmakers voting in the negative and nine abstentions.
If enacted, a Medical Cannabis Office (MCO) will be created, which will be the primary regulatory body for medical cannabis, having administrative, regulatory, and monitoring functions.
The MCO will be under the Department of Health.
It will be responsible for ensuring that medical marijuana will not be abused and will solely be used for health purposes.
“The MCO shall ensure that medical cannabis shall only be accessed through hospitals, clinics, drugstores, and other medical facilities authorized and licensed by the MCO for the use of qualified patients. It shall also ensure that only accredited physicians shall prescribe medical cannabis to qualified patients enough supply of the medicine to last not more than one (1) year,” the bill states.
“The MCO shall establish a monitoring system that includes information such as name, address of the qualified patient and the physician, diagnosis, medical cannabis product and formulation, and date of dispensation in strict observance of RA 10173, otherwise known as the ‘Data Privacy Act of 2012’,” it added. [Read More @ Inquirer.net]