The Department of Health said on Wednesday that it could not fully conduct its own study on medical marijuana because of the absence of an enabling law.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo, in a press briefing in Malacanang, made the remarks after former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has admitted using medical marijuana whenever she visits other countries, which allow this kind of treatment.

"Right now, there are several agencies actually studying it," he said.

He cited that the Dangerous Drugs Board, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Philippine Institute for Traditional Alternative Healthcare are the ones currently conducting the study.

"But we cannot go full blast into studying the actual product because it is not listed as registrable product with FDA (Food and Drug Authority) at this time," Domingo said.

"There's no law listing it as a registrable product. The government cannot spend money for the research in a product that is not registered in the Philippines," the official said.

"At this time, I think FDA will have to wait for an enabling law that will allow it to be a registrable product because we can actually consider pouring some resources into clinical researches for it," Domingo said.

"So right now we don't have any clinical studies," he added.

Arroyo told reporters on Tuesday that she believes in medical cannabis.

She said whenever she is in a country that allows medical marijuana, she puts a pain patch on her cervical spine.

Arroyo is pushing for the passage of House Bill 6517, which seeks to legalize the use of medical marijuana in the country. Celerina Monte/DMS