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Joke only: Duterte says he takes marijuana

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Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday joked that he sometimes takes marijuana to keep himself awake.Duterte spoke about taking marijuana as he complained about his schedule during the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Singapore.“Baka akala ng ASEAN Secretariat, Boy Scout kami. Hindi kaya iyan. It’s whole day. Hindi kaya,” Duterte said during the ASEAN National Organizing Council awarding ceremony in Malacañang.“It’s a killing activity, and I think [at] my age, ako hindi masyado, kasi nagma-marijuana ako eh, para magising. Sa iba, hindi na kaya.”The President, however, said in a chance interview that he was just joking with his remarks.“I want to shake the tree in the middle of a boring [speech],” he said. “Alam mo naman nagpapatawa talaga ako.”Duterte has waged a controversial war on drugs, mostly targeting users and traders of shabu, the drug of choice for many drug addicts in the Philippines.While the President is against synthetic drugs such as shabu, he is open to the use of marijuana for medical purposes.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/05/23/16/duterte-yes-to-medicinal-marijuana">Duterte: Yes to medicinal marijuana</a></li></ul>Duterte drew flak after he skipped some of the events at the Singapore ASEAN Summit. The Palace admitted that the 73-year-old had to take “power naps” to catch up on sleep due to the summit’s grueling schedule.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/15/18/duterte-whats-wrong-with-my-power-naps">Duterte: What’s wrong with my power naps?</a></li></ul>In his speech Monday, Duterte complained that he and his fellow ASEAN leaders had to attend numerous meetings which he believes should be delegated to officials.“You have to give that to the technical working group or at least sa echelons, sa ministerial. We only take yung pinaka importante, yung mga nuances about other countries, ano na yun, only the urgent and immediate concerns of ASEAN,” he said.

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he sometimes takes marijuana to keep himself awake, in what could be another joke from the chief executive who often courts controversy with his off-the-cuff remarks.

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he sometimes takes marijuana to keep himself awake, in what could be another joke from the chief executive who often courts controversy with his off-the-cuff remarks.

Joke only: Duterte says he takes marijuana

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Joke only: Duterte says he takes marijuana

Dharel Placido,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 03, 2018 05:08 PM PHT

|

Updated December 03, 2018 09:26 PM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

marijuana

medical marijuana

health

war on drugs

ASEAN Summmit

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