CBCP: Medical marijuana measure ‘morally’ wrong

MANILA, Philippines - It is “morally wrong” to make drug substances available to the public, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said yesterday.

“Substance abuse and drug dependence are wrong and any measure that makes abused or habituating substances within easy reach of potential abusers and dependents is morally wrong,” Villegas said in his pastoral guidance on the compassionate use of cannabis.

He said the use of drugs such as marijuana is a “grave offense, except on strictly therapeutic grounds.”

Villegas also stressed that the use of cannabis for medical treatment should only be seen as a last resort.

“When the use of cannabis or any other narcotic or psychotropic substance is not medically indicated and where there are other forms of intervention and treatment possible that do not pose the same risks as does the use of these substances, it is morally irresponsible to make use of (such substances), and it is gravely wrong to make use of them for recreational or leisure purposes,” he said.

The prelate issued the pastoral guide in the wake of talks on the possibility of legalizing cannabis, or marijuana, for medical purposes.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III authored House Bill 4477, or the proposed “Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act.”

Those opposing the passage of the measure claimed that its enactment could result in an inadvertent ease of access to marijuana for recreational use.

Villegas called on health care workers to determine “whether there is due proportion” between the risks and the benefits of using medical marijuana and other similar substances. – With Eva Visperas