This bill would let hospitals directly distribute medical cannabis to Philippine patients

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Pictured: A street in Vigan, The Philippines.

A legislative committee in the Philippines approved a measure to allow medical cannabis in the country.

The Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act would allow cannabis extracts to be used for medical purposes. The bill would create centers within hospitals where medical cannabis extracts would be sold and administered.

The legislation would establish training for doctors who will prescribe medical cannabis, and set up a program with patient registration cards similar to U.S. states where medical cannabis is legal.

“We’re not doing it for recreational purposes and we are not decriminalizing marijuana,” said Representative Rodolfo Albano, author of the bill. “Marijuana is still considered as a dangerous drug and all the laws pertaining to the use of marijuana and the planting of marijuana is not decriminalized.”

Despite supporting a widespread war on drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte promised to consider medical cannabis as a viable treatment on the campaign trail.