Philippines: hemp and access corrections, figures and 15 history entries

The Philippine House passes a medical-cannabis bill, HB 10439

The police campaign against drugs killed thousands. About 6,200 deaths were reported by the police, while rights groups estimated up to 30,000; by 2026 only five drug-war killings had produced convictions of nine police. The ICC opened an investigation into crimes against humanity, and Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on its warrant in March 2025. Police began Project Double Barrel and Oplan Tokhang, targeting alleged users as well as d … igation found widespread rights violations, weak due-process safeguards and near impunity.

2014-05-26

The Philippines passpasses the Dangerous Drugs Act

label First use offence · treatment civilcriminal · term Use · note Six months in a government rehabilitation centre, label Second use offe … on 12 years · fine 200000 · note Six years and one day to twelve years and ₱50,000–200,000

No dispensary or ordinary pharmacy route exists.[@pna] For a seriously ill patient, a trea … pecial permit to import an unregistered cannabis-based medicine for restricted use.[@fda] Separately, a patient or relative may obtain a PDEA personal-use licence under DDB Regulation 8 of 2019 to acquire, possess and use an unregistered dangerous-drug product for a rare or debilitating disease, with a prescription capped at a one-year supply.[@ddb_personal] CBD products with no more than 0.1% THC are in Schedule 4, but they remain prescription-only and are not; a consumer routeregistered product can be prescribed, while an unregistered one still needs the permit.[@ddb_cbd]

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Republic Act 9346 prohibited the death penalty in 2006, so trafficking now draws life imprisonment instead; unauthorised importation carries life regardless of quantity.[@death,ra_primary] Bills to restore death for large-scale drug trafficking were filed in 2025 and 2026, but none passed; the Palace said on 20 October 2026 that the proposal needed study.[@pna_death]

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There is no medical-cannabis programme and no lawful cannabis or CBD consumer products; the definition covers every part of the plant, its seeds, resin, extract and tincture.[@ra] The health department says marijuana remains illegal unless an FDA compassionate special permit covers its use and importation.[@pna,fda] A 2020 DDB regulation places CBD products with no more than 0.1% THC in Schedule 4, but access still requires; a specialist prescription andregistered product can be prescribed, while an unregistered one needs the FDA compassionate permit; it. It is not a consumer route.[@ddb_cbd,fda] On 24 February 2026, two House committees approved a consolidated medical-cannabis bill subject to style and amendments, but it has not become law.[@house,ddb]

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No industrial-hemp category or low-THC threshold. Republic Act 9165 defines cannabis as any part of the plant and its seeds, resin, extract and tincture, and bans cultivation, with no fibre, food or low-THCcosmetics exception.[@ra] A 2020 DDB regulation places CBD products with no more than 0.1% THC in Schedule 4, but this is a controlled medical listing, not a hemp or consumer-CBD market; access still needs a prescription and an FDA compassionate permit.[@ddb_cbd,fda] Hemp food, fibre and cosmetics have no general exemption.[@ra]

ra, ddb_cbd, fda

The Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act defines drugged driving by a positive confirmatory test for dangerous-drug use, without a numerical THC allowance or, a separate requirement to prove impairment, or a medical exception.[@ra10586] With probable cause, police bring the driver for drug screening and, if necess … ion and automatic licence revocation, in addition to other applicable penalties.[@ra10586]

Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 5,920 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 2,124 kg in 2023; resin was 1 kg in 2023 and blank in 2024, which may mean non-reporting rather than zero.[@unodc_szr] The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalentsPDEA reported 3,090 kg of dried leaves and countries count seizures differentlybricks and 939.73 kg of kush in 2024, so the figures are not comparable across bordersand 1,850.6 kg of dried leaves and bricks, 546.1 kg of kush and 147.9 kg of fruiting tops in 2025.[@unodc_szrpdea24,pdea25] A Manila port raid in March 2024 found 278.32 kg of kush, 2.36 litres of liquid marijuana and 880.25 g of hash.[@asean24]

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The Philippine Drug Enforcement AgencyPDEA reported that it38,545 operations and its partner agencies carried out 1051,161 anti-drug264 arrests in 2024, and 39,491 operations and arrested 1351,497 people614 arrests in the first three months of 2025.[@journal25pdea24,pdea25] The figures cover all drugs; methamphetamine dominates the seizures by value, and the reports do not say how many arrests were for cannabis.[@pdea25] Over the five years from 2020 the agency counted 183,149 operations and 253,776 arrests, with seizures of 13.5 tonnes of shabu, 14.54 tonnes of dried marijuana leaves and 1,033 kg of marijuana kush.[@journal25] The figures cover all drugs; methamphetamine dominates the seizures by value, and the report does not say how many of the arrests were for cannabis.[@journal25]

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Philippines Dangerous Drugs Board — Board Regulation No. 8, s. 2019, personal-use licence PDEA 2024 annual figures via GMA/Inquirer (14 January 2025) PDEA 2025 annual figures via SunStar/PNA (6–8 January 2026) ASEAN Drug Monitoring Report 2024 Philippine News Agency — Death penalty for major drug traffickers needs careful study, Palace (20 October 2026) 14 unchanged