Perhaps the most misunderstood, much maligned substance that humans have been consuming throughout recorded history is the plant cannabis.

Scientifically named cannabis sativa, it has been used as traditional medicine in India and China for ages.

Its popularity spread worldwide in the 1960s, when hippies began smoking it to get high — achieving a state of bliss that gave birth to the catchphrase, "Peace, man."

However, it became notorious as marijuana — when the United States declared it illegal in 1970, and which the Philippines adapted in its laws.

Today cannabis is legal for medical use in 47 countries, and its recreational use is allowed in some 10 countries, and 19 states in America.

Is it also time for the Philippines to take another look at cannabis and change its status from a prohibited drug into a regulated substance?

Advocates supporting its legalization in the country this week issued a statement presenting its arguments — in light of public attention on the arrest of Juanito Remulla III, the justice secretary's eldest son who was caught receiving a delivery of kush (high-grade cannabis) from the US.