Inaprubahan ng House of Representatives sa ikalawang pagbasa ang panukalang batas na magli-legalize sa medical na paggamit ng cannabis o marijuana, na inilarawan ng isang mambabatas bilang isang “lifeline” para sa libu-libong Pilipino na nakararanas ng chronic pain.

Sa plenary session noong Miyerkules, inaprubahan ng mga mambabatas sa ikalawang pagbasa ang House Bill No. 10439, o “Act Providing the Right of Access to Medical Cannabis, Establishing the Medical Cannabis Office and Providing Funds Therefor.”

“If you look at the last five years alone, we hear about one nation after another rewriting their history by reversing their prohibitions against cannabis and making it available as a form of medical treatment for a long list of medical conditions,” sabi ni House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chairman Robert Ace Barbers.

“In fact, in many cases, cannabis is used not as an alternative but as a last resort when all else has failed,” dagdag ni Barbers.