Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has claimed he is open to legalising medical cannabis, despite his hardline stance against all drugs.
MORE: WTF is going on with the Philippines’ war on drugs right now?
“If it’s certified by the government [the Food and Drug Administration] and it’s good – fine, no problem,” he told Jamela Alindogan and Wayne Hay (watch below) in a recent interview with Al Jazeera.
Asked by Alindogan if he was “in favour of medicinal marijuana”, Duterte responded, “Yes. But that is a really long process.”
The president didn’t really expand on any prospective medical cannabis scheme beyond this.
Like most Southeast Asian countries – *cough Indonesia* – the Philippines is known for its tough anti-cannabis stance, even prior to Duterte’s war on drugs.
MORE: Toughest pot laws around the world
Until 2006, possession of 500g of cannabis or more could earn you the death penalty.
See the interview below (the weed chat kicks off at 16 mins).
