The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) said Monday that medical marijuana cannabidiol is now allowed in the Philippines but only for “compassionate use” for patients with terminal illnesses.
DDB Chairman Catalino Cuy, however, clarified that marijuana use is still illegal in the country.
“Compassionate use, ‘yun ‘yung pinapayagan natin na gumamit ng certain prohibited drugs, ‘yung mga pasyente na, halimbawa, may terminal cancer,” said DDB chairman Catalino Cuy in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.
(Compassionate use, that is what we allow to use certain prohibited drugs such as patients with terminal cancer.)
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Medical marijuana cannabidiol now allowed in the Philippines but for ‘compassionate use’ only
The chairman said the use of cannabidiol (CBD) tablet Epidiolex is now allowed in the Philippines after they approved its reclassification.
“Itong board regulation na ito, nag-reclassify lang tayo. Hindi natin pinapayagan pa rin ang medical marijuana. Nag-reclassify lang tayo ng Epidiolex,” Cuy said.
(This board regulation, we just reclassified. We still do not allow medical marijuana. We just reclassified Epidiolex.)
He said tablet brand has 0.1 % tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. Cuy also said they aligned the new regulation to the THC content threshold of the US Food and Drug Administration.
“Ito’ yung papayagan nating makapasok dito,” he said.
(This is what we allow to enter the country.)
The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration can issue a Compassionate Special Permit (CSP) for patients suffering from critical conditions such as cancer or AIDS to have legal access to an unregistered drug like marijuana.