First World Countries are at the Forefront of the legalization of

Cannabis, Should the Philippines follow their lead?

Dan Ray Pineda Tria

Mark Gil Rocuyan Navarro
University of Santo Tomas – Legazpi
JD 1E-B

There is increasing support for marijuana law reform than ever before, and
the legalization of marijuana has many serious public policy implications. The
criminalization of marijuana has also failed to meet its goals and has negative
impact on individual and public health.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
I. Countries Where Cannabis is Legal………………………………………………..………2
A. Uruguay………………………………………………………………………………………………….....2
B. Canada……………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
C. United States of America…………………………………………………………………………….7
II. Philippine Cannabis Law and its neighboring countries…………………………10
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

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should the Philippines follow their lead?
Introduction
There is something that makes people giggle when discussing marijuana—
even if they are not smoking. People tend to treat the issue as a joke. The debate
over marijuana policy has serious public policy consequences. People believes that
marijuana is bad. And I believe that the criminalization of marijuana is worse.
Criminalization has disproportionally punished black and brown people, wasted
billions of dollars, enriched the illicit market, damaged public health, devastated
the environment, failed to reduce youth marijuana use and undermined people’s
faith in the government.
This Journal focuses on the comparisons of countries which cannabis is legal.
The advantages and lessons that will be an example for any countries which is
lagging on the reform of cannabis law. It will give top reasons that marijuana should
be legalized for adults and controlled through regulation and taxation rather than
criminalization.

Countries Where Cannabis is Legal

The stigma of illegality of cannabis can be traced back in the early 1900’s just
after the Mexican revolution in United States. What happened there affected all
the legality in almost all other countries in the world. As of November 30, 2018 the
countries that have broadly legalized the use and sale of marijuana are Canada and
Uruguay medicinally and recreationally, while countries like Argentina, Australia,
Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece,
Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands,
Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, United States, and Zimbabwe are countries where medicinal
cannabis is only legal1. As we go on, we will not tackle the cannabis law of all the
countries but will focus more on country like Canada, Uruguay and some other
states in United States where the cannabis laws have much rigid framework and
effectivity in which other countries should follow.
Uruguay
The forefront of cannabis law where both medicinal and recreational is legal.
Uruguay is the first country to legalize and regulate its domestic non-medical
cannabis market. In light of this pioneering role, the choices and experiences of
Uruguayan authorities hold important lessons for other jurisdictions that may
consider whether and how to regulate cannabis. Uruguay’s breakthroughs and
challenges related to banking, international treaties, access to the product,
enforcement, medical cannabis, tourism, and research and evaluation in particular
hold immense value to policymakers and analysts elsewhere. To this end, this
report examines the conditions that led Uruguay’s government to pass its cannabis

1Keith Speights (TMFFishBiz), Aug 27, 2019 at 5:33PM, Where Is Marijuana Legal?,
https://www.fool.com/investing/where-is-marijuana-legal.aspx

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should the Philippines follow their lead?
law in 2013, studies its progress so far, and identifies areas that policymakers
should consider addressing in order to maximize the law’s potential benefits.2 The
pioneer country in cannabis still has a lot to amend or repeal in their cannabis law
to be more effective and efficient. Uruguay should consider long-term measures to
ensure that cannabis business entities have access to financial institutions,
including outreach to other jurisdictions shifting toward cannabis regulation, such
as Canada.3
In terms of commercial sales Uruguay has not been successful in comparison
with Canada. Implementation of commercial sales so far has been marked by
shortcomings in distribution. Uruguay can overcome these obstacles by widening
legal points of sale to include not only pharmacies, but a new form of dispensary,
which authorities are already planning.4 In order for the regulated cannabis market
to displace the black market more effectively, authorities may need to reconsider
rules that require users to choose only one of the three legal forms of cannabis
supply: home growing, clubs, or commercial purchase.5

Uruguay Cannabis law

The main goal of any country legalizing the use of marijuana is to remove the
marijuana market from the hands of illicit drug traffickers. Like any other vices that
is popular, like tobacco and e-cigarette products, tax revenues should be properly
imposed and be regulated. What does the Uruguay law do? The law creates a new
state agency called the Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis
(IRCCA).6 The IRCCA has three primary responsibilities: 1.) Regulate the growing,
harvesting, distribution, preparation, sale and use of all marijuana in Uruguay used
for commercial, medical or nonmedical purposes. 2.) Promote campaigns that
provide educational information about the risks and harms of marijuana use and
abuse, in coordination with the National Drug Agency and other governmental
agencies and departments. 3.) Ensure compliance with the law.7
The goal of Uruguay; to improve public health and reduce the risks and harms
associated with the use of marijuana, to promote the dissemination of information,
education, and prevention for the consumption and negative consequences of
problematic drug use and to protect the population from the risks associated with
illegal drug trafficking, and specifically to “attack the devastating social, health, and

2JohnHudak, Geoff Ramsey, and John Walsh, March 21, 2018, Center for Effective Public
Management https://www.brookings.edu/research/uruguays-cannabis-law-pioneering-a-new-
paradigm/
3 id.
4 Id.
5 Id.
6 Drug Policy Alliance | 131 West 33rd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001, Marijuana

Legalization In Uruguay, May 2014

https://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Fact_Sheet_Marijuana_Legalization_in_Urugua
y_0.pdf
7 Id.

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should the Philippines follow their lead?
economic consequences of psychoactive substance abuse,” thereby reducing illegal
drug trafficking and organized crime.8 These goals of Uruguay has not been reached
and has been failing in the eyes of the community. Like any other laws, if it is not
efficient and effective, it will build confusion in its inhabitants. The law or statute
must be complete and sufficiently adhere to the standard as to giving effect.
According to the Americas Barometer 2014, over sixty percent of Uruguayan
citizens have expressed disagreement with the law. Additionally, leaders within the
International Narcotics Control Board have expressed opposition to legalization,
characterizing the new law as being in direct defiance of the international drug
control treaties. As a result, Uruguay faces both domestic and international
opposition in pursuing its innovative marijuana regulation model.9
Even four years after the law was passed, only 17 of 1,000 government
pharmacies offered cannabis because of pressure from banks. Those that do must
sell on a cash basis.10 The illegality of cannabis is dominant in most of our countries
that is why pressure from banks is rooted from it.

However, Canada’s legalization of recreational marijuana may pave the way

for Uruguayan banks and pharmacies to do business with its financial institutions.
Efforts by the World Health Organization to reclassify marijuana and acknowledge
medicinal benefits are also hopeful signs for the future of the legal cannabis
industry in the country.11

Political changes also have slowed availability. The current president, Tabaré
Vázquez, is a physician and considers marijuana to be dangerous. Also, the Ministry
of Health and the National Police have been uneven in their policies and
enforcement.12 The effectivity of a statute and law partly rest to its executive chair
and its department.

As we tackle the cannabis law of Uruguay, Philippines should learn from its
downfall in effectivity of a cannabis law. Philippine lawmakers should build a
framework completely without any false hope in its vision, mission and goals.
Before passing the house bill in our country, the Philippines should remove any
stigma of immorality in using the medical herb and any of its uses.

8 Id.
9 Marijuana Legalization in Uruguay and Beyond Executive Summary María Fernanda Boidi,
Insights Research Group José Miguel Cruz, Latin American and Caribbean Center, FIU Rosario
Queirolo, Universidad Católica del Uruguay Emily Bello-Pardo, Latin American and Caribbean
Center, FIU
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Marijuana%20Legalization%20in%20Uruguay
%20and%20Beyond_brief%20report_v3%20(2).pdf
10 Weedmaps, June 7, 2019 https://weedmaps.com/learn/laws-and-regulations/uruguay/
11 Supra note 10.
12 Id.

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Canada
Canada had a long history of passing a law or statute of cannabis but failed
each and every time. The goal of decriminalizing the use of marijuana in early 2000s
is for medicinal purposes only but had not been successful because of lawmakers
disapprove of it. Previous Prime Minister of Canada has also viewed the use of herb
as bad and immoral and thus has been supported of the majority of lawmakers in
Canada. As of October 17, 2018, recreational cannabis and medicinal cannabis
became legal in Nova Scotia and across Canada.13 In Canada, the system of
government is by federalism. This diversity carries over into cannabis, with the
cannabis market in Halifax and Nova Scotia as a whole differing from what you
would find in Montreal or Vancouver. Some differences in our access to
recreational cannabis stems from Provincial decisions (that is, the Nova Scotia
government), and others have to do with Municipal decision-making (Halifax region
by-law for example). Everyone has a different role in the regulation of cannabis.14
Cannabis regulation touches a lot of different parts of everyday life and has rules
around what’s allowed and what isn’t. The rules are made at the Federal,
Provincial, and Municipal level.15
Federal
The push for cannabis legalization originated from the Federal government.
Justin Trudeau made it a part of his campaign platform when he ran for Prime
Minister in 2015 and followed through on his campaign promise to legalize and
regulate cannabis. The Federal government had the job of creating the Cannabis
Act, which is a Federal law that gives us our rules that are the same across the
country.16 The Cannabis Act creates a strict legal framework for controlling the
production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis across Canada. The Act
aims to accomplish 3 goals:17

• keep cannabis out of the hands of youth

• keep profits out of the pockets of criminals
• protect public health and safety by allowing adults access to legal cannabis

Provincial

The Provinces were given the opportunity through the Cannabis Act to set
up more context-specific and regional rules that make sense for their demographics

13Cannabis in Canada: Municipal, Provincial & Federal Responsibilities, By Chelsea Cox, winter
2019.
https://www.legalinfo.org/legal-information-topics/cannabis-in-canada-municipal-provincial-
federal-responsibilities

14 Id.
15 Id.
16 Supra note 13.
17Primary Source: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/ Date modified: 2019-10-17

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and populations.18 Provinces can set the age limit for consumption higher than the
minimum of 18 set by the Federal government. They can also decide how many
plants per household can be grown.19

Municipal

Each municipality is empowered to make rules that are directly linked to

their jurisdictions. These types of things include where cannabis can be sold
physically, zoning regulations (i.e. each cannabis point of sale must be x amount of
meters away from a school), and where you can consume. There is overlap
between the Provincial and Municipal responsibilities as many municipalities follow
the rules within the Provincial regulations, rather than creating their own.20

In each government there is a strict regulation. Federal, provincial and

territorial governments share responsibility for overseeing the cannabis regulation
system.
The Federal government's responsibilities are to set:

• strict requirements for producers who grow and manufacture cannabis

• industry-wide rules and standards, including:
o types of cannabis products available for sale
o packaging and labelling requirements for products
o standardized serving sizes and potency
o prohibitions on the use of certain ingredients
o good production practices
o tracking requirements of cannabis from seed to sale to keep it out of
the illegal market
o restrictions on promotional activities

Provinces and territories are responsible for developing, implementing,

maintaining and enforcing systems to oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis.
They are also able to add their own safety measures, such as:

• increasing the minimum age in their province or territory (but not lowering
it)
• lowering the personal possession limit in their jurisdiction
• creating additional rules for growing cannabis at home, such as lowering the
number of plants per residence
• restricting where adults can consume cannabis, such as in public or in
vehicles.21

18 Cannabis in Canada: Municipal, Provincial & Federal Responsibilities, By Chelsea Cox, winter
2019.
https://www.legalinfo.org/legal-information-topics/cannabis-in-canada-municipal-provincial-
federal-responsibilities
19 Id.

20 Id.
21 Primary Source: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/ Date modified: 2019-10-17

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 Canada claims the largest overall market where marijuana use of any kind is
legal at the federal level. Medical cannabis has been legal in the country since 2001,
although initially patients had to grow their own marijuana plants. New regulations
in 2013, subsequently replaced in 2016, opened the door for licensed producers to
supply medical marijuana to patients across the country.22 The Canadian marijuana
market in 2017 totaled around $600,000. Arcview Market Research and BDS
Analytics project this figure will soar to $5.5 billion by 2022.23

The mainstream for legalizing the recreational use of marijuana was made by
Canada. It surges all throughout the world. Their claims for benefitting from the tax
revenues in regulating the cannabis is fully backed up by a lot of news and sources
around the world. Canada’s federal and provincial governments earned C$186
million ($140 million) in tax revenues from direct sales of cannabis in the first 5-1/2
months of legalization, Statistics Canada data showed on Wednesday, after two
major provinces cut their revenue forecasts.

Statistics Canada found Ottawa collected a combined C$55 million in revenue

via federal excise and goods and services taxes. Provincial tax revenues were
estimated at a combined C$132 million.24It is a great example for a bad and
immoral deed of the past which is using marijuana was made legal and has help the
country in profiting from it.

Philippine lawmakers should also follow the framework of the cannabis act of
Canada. There is a strict regulation and a campaign fully supported by the prime
minister. Congressmen and Senators should read and learn from C-45 of Canada.
Before passing the bill and openly discussing the submission of a cannabis law, the
inhabitants of the Philippines should be given full knowledge of the benefits of the
herb. There would be a positive opinion from it especially if its fully supported by
an executive chair or solely by the department of health. The key point in each law
or statute is the dissemination of its information and its pros and cons.

United States of America

Some states of America are on the forefront of legalizing or decriminalizing

the use of Marijuana. Even though United states of America is the one responsible
of implanting the stigma of immorality in the use of the herb. They have also ruled

22Keith Speights (TMFFishBiz), Aug 27, 2019 at 5:33PM, Where Is Marijuana Legal?,
https://www.fool.com/investing/where-is-marijuana-legal.aspx

23 Id.

24Cannabis generates C$186 million in tax revenue in Canada in first months of legalization,
JUNE 20, 2019, Reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Nichola
Saminather in Toronto; Editing by Peter Cooney, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-
cannabis/cannabis-generates-c186-million-in-tax-revenue-in-canada-in-first-months-of-
legalization-idUSKCN1TK2YV

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it as a good source of tax revenue and have many benefits for a common people
who is being regulated for the use of it.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2018, 62% of Americans

support marijuana legalization, which is almost double the number of those who
supported legalization in 2000. Weed is currently legal in some form in 46 US states,
though the majority only allow use for medical purposes.25

Recreational use is allowed in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine,

Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, Washington DC, and
Vermont.26

Figure 1

In June, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer unveiled the Marijuana

Freedom and Opportunity Act, which would remove weed from the government’s
list of controlled substances, and seeks to decriminalize marijuana across the
country. And Donald Trump has expressed support for allowing states to regulate
marijuana independently. Currently valued at $8 billion, America’s legal marijuana
market could be worth as much as $25 billion by 2025.27

Even executive chair of the united states of the America fully supported the
legalization of marijuana.

In these states where the use of marijuana is legal, the framework of their
cannabis law or statute focuses on regulating it and preventing the black market of
the herb to be the only option by its inhabitants and minors. Even other states

25All the places in the world you can (legally) smoke weed, by Aisha Hassan, October 18, 2018,
https://qz.com/1427177/where-is-marijuana-legal-around-the-world/

26 Id.
27 Supra note 25.

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decriminalize the use of the herb in which they cannot view the possession of the
herb as illegal and be penalized.

America has a national organization in which it states all the laws or statutes,
penalties, and regulation in cannabis. National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) is an American non profit organization based in
Washington, DC where its mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize
the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for
consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe,
convenient and affordable.28

Driven by the Drug War, the U.S. prison population is six to ten times as high as
most Western European nations. The United States is a close second only to Russia
in its rate of incarceration per 100,000 people. In 2012, more than 749,000 people
were arrested in this country for marijuana-related offenses alone.
Marijuana prohibition causes far more problems than it solves, and results in
the needless arrest of hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens
each year.29
In theses statistics in the America it is similar in our country, the Philippines. In
which the population of our prisons is congested. The number of drug abusers --
newly admitted and re-admitted in rehab facilities-- has charted an up-down track.
From 5,787 patients in 2004, it rose slightly to 5,873 in 2005. The figure thinned by
more than half to 2,744 patients in 2012, but again expanded to 4,392 in 2014.30
Over the last two decades, the number of residents in drug rehabilitation facilities
in the country has risen and fallen, according to data from Dangerous Drugs Board
and the Philippine Statistics Authority.31
In 1995, there were 3,549 reported cases of drug abuse admitted in these
facilities. It rose to 8,189 in 2003, declined in the next 10 years, and started to rise
again from 2011 to 2014. Eighty percent of the total admissions were new cases,
and the balance, re-admitted patients.32
In these statistics of the Philippines, it is evident that drug abuse has been on a rise
and fall based on the movement of the present government. As a third world
country and which our prisons and facilities has not reached the standard, an
alternative solution is to decongest it. While our country has continued passing
house bills in relation to cannabis, it is also evident that our country is still not ready
for it because of the stigma planted that it is still bad and immoral.

28 Primary Source: https://norml.org/about

29 Id.
30 Public order, safety, and drugs: Weary, wicked, wretched data, BY STEFFI MARI SANCHEZ, THE

PCIJ DATA TEAM AND PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM (PCIJ), November
16, 2017 | 01:00:00 PM https://pcij.org/data/122/public-order-safety-and-drugs-weary-wicked-
wretched-data

31 Id.
32 Supra note 30.

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Philippine Cannabis Law and its neighboring countries
Cannabis in the Philippines gives very different opinion and views to its
inhabitants. As it is evident that marijuana is included in Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act of 2002,33 Drugs that are also included in the said act are Ecstasy, Shabu,
Opium Poppy and other synthetic drugs.34 As it is made as whole, the picture of
using marijuana in our country is deemed illegal and morally wrong as using the
other.
It is also evident that Republic Act No. 9165 is dated 2002 where the stigma
of the use of marijuana is still there. Laws and statutes in our country have been so
slow in progressing especially in which the world has already accepted it. In relation
in this topic, marijuana should be excluded in Republic Act No. 9165 or rather there
should be a new law or statute regulating and decriminalizing the use of the herb.
Over the years it’s quite astounding how cannabis is slowly getting detached from
the dangerous drug segment. While it isn’t completely classified as a legal drug,
there seems to be a global shift on perspective as societies from all over the world
loosen up on their drug policy on cannabis.35

In recent years, the medicinal properties of cannabis have been gaining a lot
of attention and acceptance, which led to legalization in more countries both for
recreational and medical use. In the US, more and more states have legalized
medical marijuana to treat pain and illnesses, and many seem to be interested to
follow suit.36

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives has approved the House Bill
6517, an act providing compassionate and right of access to Medical cannabis and
expanding research into its medicinal properties.37

While the movement on reforming the use of marijuana financial

implications of legal cannabis industry should be looked upon to. Forbes
Magazine reported that in less than a decade, the legal cannabis industry will see
worldwide spending hit US$57 billion by 2027.38 Citing research from ArcView
Market Research, among the largest growth spread is likely to come from outside
the United States, from $52 million spent in 2017 to a projected $2.5 billion in
2027.39

33 Republic Act No. 9165 (2002)

34 Id.
35 Medical Marijuana: Here Are The Things That You Should Know, Written by Marc Adrian, March

4, 2019 https://www.imoney.ph/articles/medical-marijuana-philippines/
36 Id.

37 Id.
38 Supra note 35.
39 Id.

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 Also, Asia has been on a positive view in reforming the use of marijuana, for
example; Thailand’s law to legalize medical use of marijuana took effect on Febuary
18, 2019,40

South Korea’s law to legalize medical use also took effect,41 and Japan
approves trials for cannabis compound Epidiolex on March 24, 2019.42

We have to speed up the regulation and production because there would be

an undersupply in those countries which legalizes it.

“If regulation moves fast, Asia could be the #1 supplier of cannabis and
medical devices, and lead the way in investment,” says Saul Kaye, Founder and CEO
of Israel Cannabis (iCAN), speaking exclusively to AFN. “While there is positive
momentum with South Korea and Thailand, regulators in APAC still have a way to
go to meet the needs of patients, and the industry will need to be ready for the
local market. The Asian region has a long history of botanical medicine and cannabis
should be a part of that.”43

In our country, it held the first international event about legalizing the use of
marijuana. Invest Cannabis Asia 2019, billed as “the first international cannabis
event in the Philippines.”44 They have expressly said in the interview that their
advocates say it’s time to educate hesitant lawmakers. Compared with cannabis
plants grown in some countries, Philippine cannabis is said to have a high
cannabidiol content—the main ingredient in most medicinal products.45

While it is evident that there is many laws and statutes needed to be

repealed and amended. New laws to be passed. The Philippine lawmakers should
work hard in passing bills that pass the standards and the president should support
it. In relation to the use of marijuana, executive department should fully
disseminate information about cannabis, and it should not focus more on politics.

40 A mini-guide to cannabis in Asia, Joe Gan, August 31, 2019, https://agfundernews.com/a-

mini-guide-to-cannabis-in-asia.html
41 Id.
42 Id.
43 Id.
44 Medical marijuana: A health movement whose time has finally come?, By: Eric S. Caruncho,

October 08, 2019, Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:04 AM

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/347671/medical-marijuana-a-health-movement-whose-time-has-
finally-come/
45 Id.

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Conclusion

The Result from legalization are so encouraging that some lawmakers,

elected officials, Executive Chairs, Prime Ministers, and any other officials of a
government who originally opposed marijuana legalization at most of countries
now support the new approach. As any given example in the previous discussion,
people like Trudeau, Trump, and Uruguay President who had been defending the
law has been supported by most of the people of their countries. We have seen the
benefits given to the government in tax revenues. If these countries made it
possible and have shown us the enlightenment in cannabis law, why would the
Philippines lags from it.

The sky is not falling. Progress will be seen by the Philippines.

Sources: Figure 1, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,

www.norml.org

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