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Padilla starts Medical Cannabis Act hearing: Sen. Robinhood Padilla presides over the Health and Demography Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, December 7, 2022 on Senate Bill No. 230 or the Medical Cannabis Compassionate Access Act of the Philippines. The bill, authored by Padilla, seeks to grant access to medical cannabis or marijuana as a compassionate alternative means of medical treatment. The bill also seeks to expand research into cannabis' medicinal properties to promote the health and well-being of citizens proven to be in dire need of such. “Today, we open the door and care for patients who have been knocking on the hearts of those concerned for a long time to realize their requests for access to the longed-for cure – medical cannabis,” Padilla said as he opened the first public hearing on the proposal. “I can assure you that we still have a long way to go before our goal to provide an affordable cure and prolong the lives of our countrymen is realized. But as they said – every journey begins with a small first step,” Padilla said in Filipino. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)