DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA, COUNCILOR SAYS

A city councilor member, who is also a medical doctor, is seeking to
"decriminalize" possession and use of marijuana.

Councilor Noel de Jesus, a physician accredited with the Dangerous Drugs
Board, made the proposal in a Kapihan forum last week at the Bethel Guesthouse.

Possession of at least 500 grams of marijuana in the country is punishable
by death under Republic Act 9165. Possession of marijuana, weighing five
grams to 499 grams, is punishable by life imprisonment while possession of
less than five grams is punishable by a 12-year jail term. Instead of a
prison term, De Jesus wants to impose only administrative sanctions.

"If we decriminalize marijuana, we will decongest our judicial system and
we will be unburdening our law enforcement authorities," he said, citing
developments in other countries, which have adopted the same stand.

He said he shares the position that marijuana use does not make a person
violent, unlike shabu. Marijuana "keeps people in their place," he said.

He also debunked common notions that once a person became an addict, he
would always be an addict. "You can get out of addiction due to an
overlying reason," he reasoned, citing his own experience on quitting smoking.

Last year, authorities seized some 14.4 million kilograms of marijuana
plants and products throughout the country.

Marijuana is grown throughout the country, especially in the mountainous
areas of northern Luzon, central Visayas, and central, southern and western
Mindanao.

Fernando Martinez, the provincial action officer of the Anti-Drug Abuse and
Prevention Council, frowned on De Jesus' suggestion.