Medical marijuana
One interesting question host Steve Harvey asked Miss Philippines Catriona Gray during the question and answer portion of the Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand was about marijuana.
“Canada recently joined Uruguay as the second nation in the world to make marijuana legal. What is your opinion on the legalization of marijuana?” Harvey asked.
Catriona’s answer: “I’m for it being used in a medical use but not so for recreational use because I think if people were to argue what about alcohol and cigarettes? So everything is good but in moderation.”
Catriona’s stand on the legalization of marijuana was clear in her answer: only for medical use. What is a bit muddled is her justification. The mention of alcohol and cigarettes in the same breath and the line “everything is good but in moderation” could tempt one to say she is equating marijuana with alcohol and cigarettes, which is wrong.
Still, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo could not resist injecting politics into the matter when asked about Catriona’s answer to the Steve Harvey question.
“Catriona Gray’s position on the legalization of marijuana for healing purposes could have been influenced by PRRD’s stand on the matter or she could have come up with that conclusion after considering the pros and cons of the issue,” Panelo said in a text message to a reporter.
Panelo wasn’t referring, of course, to the President’s joke about using marijuana to stay awake for strenuous activities. “It’s a killing activity and I think the–my age,ako hindi masyado kasi nagma-marijuana ako eh para magising. Sa iba, hindi na kaya.”
House Bill 6517 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act is up for deliberation in the House of Representatives after it was approved by the House committee on health but it is a controversial measure that no doubt would invite intense public scrutiny considering that it could be used as subterfuge for abuse.
The stand of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on this one is clear. “We are all for accessible use of any kind of medical preparations to the public, but let it not be said that the government will allow the use of marijuana (the plant).”
Indeed, you can’t smoke marijuana and say you have a headache to cure.