Philippines: Catholic Church OKs Marijuana For The Terminally Ill

While allowing the use of marijuana for the terminally ill, Catholic bishops in the Philippines deny supporting a proposed medical marijuana bill

MANILA, Philippines – While debates on the topic rage in Philippine Congress, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement to explain why the Catholic Church allows the use of marijuana for terminally-ill patients.

At the same time, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Monday, August 17, denied a newspaper report that said the CBCP is backing a proposed medical marijuana law.

Villegas cited Catholic Church documents to explain their position on “the compassionate use of cannabis or marijuana.” 

“The highest teaching authority of the Church allows for the palliative and compassionate use of narcotics particularly in the case of the terminally ill,” Villegas said in a statement Saturday, August 14.

He quoted from the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) by the late pope...

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http://www.rappler.com/nation/102909-catholic-church-marijuana-terminally-ill