Indopedia All Things Marijuana
Legislators in the Philippines have proposed a new bill to legalize medical cannabis in their country, but the bill has many opponents, including an organization of American-based Filipino doctors who recently voiced their opposition to the bill. Dr. Philip Chun, a heart surgeon and chairman of the Filipino United Network (FUN-USA), wrote a statement to Philippine Rep. Lito Atienza expressing his opposition to the bill, the Manila Standard reports.
Atienza, the country’s senior deputy minority leader, has been leading the opposition against the proposed Act Providing Filipinos Right of Access to Medical Marijuana. The bill has already been approved by a House committee, and will be up for debate when the Philippine Congress reconvenes on November 20th. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) is also strongly opposed to the bill, arguing that medical cannabis legalization “runs counter to the State’s policy to protect the wellbeing of its citizenry.”
Chun’s statement echoes the PMA’s prohibitionist stance. “We currently have enough drug addiction problems in the Philippines and certainly do not want to add more,” Chun wrote. “While as a heart surgeon I am personally in…
