IF medical cannabis or marijuana is produced locally as medicines, this will be affordable to sick Pinoys.
But it seems that a government agency is not open to the idea of using locally-produced marijuana to be formulated as medicines.
This was said by some attendees at a recent Media Health Forum of Richard Nixon Gomez, scientist/inventor and general manager of a research, manufacturing and development company, Bauertek Corporation in Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan.
Reports had that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve only the manufacture of cannabis as medicines if the plants were imported. Among the ailments said to be cured by marijuana medicines include depression, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, sleep disorder, anxiety, among others.
Other medical experts lamented that FDA had approved ahead the use of acupuncture, a Chinese traditional treatment of disorders by inserting needles into the skin at points where the flow of energy is thought to be blocked meridians.
At the forum with veteran broadcast journalists Rolando “Lakay” Gonzalo and Edwin Eusebio as moderators, one of the guests was UERM Memorial Medical Center, Inc. associate professor Dr. Macgerald Cueto, who said that his group of acupuncturists had served some communities with the authority of the Department of Health (DOH) and many had benefitted in their process of treatment.
According to Cueto, acupuncture can help in the treatment of chronic pain, headaches, migraine, erectal dysfunction, among other ailments.
The doctor though revealed the “risk” of using acupuncture in some rare cases like the possibility of bleeding and swelling of body parts pricked by needles. There is also the possibility of contracting infection if needles used are unsterilized or will malfunction or unintentionally cut needles. The process should only be entrusted to certified acupuncturists.
On the other hand, medical cannabis has the features that can treat many ailments and has 500 turpins and cannabinoids in one plant alone, said Gomez. The Bauertek Corp. facility is more than ready to process the cannabis plant to turn it into a medical tablet and medical oil.
The research, manufacturing and development company will process the marijuana to treat various medical ailments.
Scientists as well as medical doctors have long pushed for the legalization of the use of medical marijuana, especially that the same has been used by our forefathers in the treatment of various ailments long time ago.
Dr. Gomez said that once the bills on medical cannabis are enacted into law, his facility is more than ready to process the medical cannabis plant. This, in turn, can be planted with other herbs for food supplement, which are being manufactured by Bauertek Corp.
Gomez said that the medical cannabis can be planted in different places in the Philippines. “Millions can benefit from this, farmers or planters can be helped and this can be an income-generating opportunity as this can be exported.”