Tag: japan

When it comes to cannabis policy reform efforts, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. The most straightforward way to achieve cannabis reform is when lawmakers draft, approve, and implement a measure. However, that is not always possible, as many lawmakers around the globe continue to cling to failed cannabis prohibition.

One of the most popular ways to get around anti-cannabis politicians is through citizen initiatives or referendums in which ordinary citizens collect enough signatures to force a vote on cannabis policy reform. Collecting signatures to force a vote has proven very successful in the United States at the state level.

Another route that has yielded results comes in the form of legal challenges. When someone is subjected to prohibition enforcement they are usually afforded the right to challenge such policies in court, and while court decisions are not as good as the passage of bills by lawmakers, they provide some level of protection to consumers and patients.

Landmark cannabis court rulings were previously issued in several countries, including Spain, Italy, South Africa, and Mexico. A recent example can be found in Brazil, where the nation’s Supreme Court determined that personal cannabis possession should not be a crime.

Japan is home to one of the strictest set of cannabis policies on earth. Late last year, Japan lifted its nationwide ban on the importation of cannabis-derived medications, although the medications can only be used in very limited circumstances.

Coupled with the lifting of importing cannabis-derived medications, Japan also approved new penalties for consuming cannabis. Under the new guidelines, people caught having consumed cannabis can face up to seven years in prison in Japan.

Ryujiro Oyabu, a 52-year-old Japanese pottery artist, was pulled over by police in Japan on August 8th, 2021, and found to be in possession of three grams of cannabis. Oyabu is reportedly fighting the possession conviction with the assistance of constitutional lawyer Hidehiro Marui who argues that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional.

If the challenge succeeds, it could have a major impact on Japan’s cannabis policies.

“His team plans to argue that since marijuana is now recognised as a medicine, the government must elaborate further and present scientific evidence of its dangers, by which they hope to undermine the principles behind criminalisation.” stated iNews in its original coverage.

Only time will tell if Japan’s top court is willing to consider the case, and if so, whether or not the challenge succeeds. Fortunately, there are many examples now from around the globe of such legal challenges succeeding.

Cannabis use by young people is a very serious topic that is worthy of a serious conversation and public policy approach. It’s a topic that should be driven by science and logic, and not by fear-mongering. Unfortunately, Japan appears to be taking the wrong approach.

Japan set a national record last year for arresting more young people for cannabis than ever before. The record comes at a time when Japan is revamping its cannabis policies and stepping up cannabis prohibition enforcement.

Last December, Japan’s government adopted a measure that expressly prohibited half a dozen synthetic cannabinoids. That measure’s adoption came weeks after Japan approved separate legislation that permitted some cannabis-derived medications to be imported to Japan, but also increased penalties for cannabis consumers.

Last year’s arrest data involving young consumers setting a record is not a surprise given the heightened focus on enforcement in 2023. Per The Japan Times:

The number of marijuana offenders under the age of 20 increased 34% to 1,222 last year, marking a record high, according to National Police Agency data released Thursday.

The figure for cannabis cases involving those under age 20 had decreased for the first time in nine years in 2022.

By age, the number of suspects sharply increased after 16 and remained high until around 20, after which it began to decline.

Japan’s National Police Agency is blaming “the lack of awareness surrounding the harmfulness of drugs” for the rise in arrests, and claiming that drugs “are now becoming easier to obtain” in Japan. The Agency’s reported plan going forward is to boost anti-cannabis education in Japan’s high schools.

If history is any guide, Japan will never be able to arrest its way to zero cannabis use, just as no other country can ever achieve such an unrealistic goal. Some amount of young people in every country, including in Japan, will experiment with cannabis, and while they shouldn’t be encouraged to do so, they also shouldn’t have their lives ruined because of it.

Japan’s Health Ministry moved to pass a ban on certain synthetic cannabinoids this week, citing reported illnesses by consumers who stated they consumed gummy products infused with synthetic cannabinoids.

All of the cannabinoids in question, which will be banned starting January 6, 2024, have a similar structure as hexahydrocannabihexol (HHCH). Japan’s Health Ministry implemented a ban on HHCH and any products infused with it earlier this month.

Back in November, five individuals reportedly became ill after “consuming gummies distributed by a man at a festival in western Tokyo.” Those reported illnesses were cited as the reason for banning HHCH earlier this month.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was already banned in Japan, however, lawmakers recently passed a measure to close a perceived loophole in the law. THC consumption was not expressly prohibited in Japan until earlier this month. People in Japan caught having consumed cannabis now face up to seven years in prison.

Products containing synthetic cannabinoids are popular with consumers in jurisdictions that prohibit THC, serving as an alternative to non-synthetic cannabis products. Multiple outlets in Japan were reportedly selling synthetic cannabis products such as gummies and cookies before the passage of the ban.

Synthetic cannabis products are almost always unregulated, and thus, not always safe for human consumption. Growing demand for synthetic cannabis products is a byproduct of cannabis prohibition, as demonstrated by the fact that synthetic cannabis products are not nearly as popular, nor as widely available, in jurisdictions where adult-use cannabis commerce is permitted compared to where it is prohibited.

Regulated THC products are demonstrably safer than unregulated synthetic cannabinoid products, which is why governments around the world would be wise to modernize their cannabis policies to permit adult-use cannabis commerce to boost public health outcomes.

In addition to banning HHCH earlier this month, lawmakers in Japan lifted a ban on cannabis-derived medications to permit the importation of such medical cannabis products as Epidiolex. Epidiolex is often prescribed for patients diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.

Japan’s parliament approved a reform measure on Wednesday that legalizes cannabis-derived medical products. The newly approved public policy measure also imposes stiff penalties for the use of non-approved cannabis products.

Last month lawmakers in the lower chamber of Japan’s parliament approved the measure, which seeks to permit the importation, prescription, and use of products like Epidiolex. Epidiolex is a cannabis-derived medical cannabis product that is currently available in pharmacies in several countries.

The medication is prescribed to treat severe cases of epilepsy. Many patients around the world report taking the medicine and experiencing significant relief. A study conducted in 2019 found that “6.9 per 1000 individuals have epilepsy in the general Japanese population, and that the prevalence of epilepsy increases with age, probably because of elderly onset cerebrovascular diseases.”

Lawmakers in the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, the House of Councillors, approved the measure today. The other major component of the measure was explicitly codifying the prohibition of the use of non-approved cannabis products.

Once the measure goes into effect, someone caught consuming illegal cannabis products of any kind will face a penalty of up to seven years in prison. Possession of non-industrial hemp cannabis is already prohibited in Japan, and it is unclear how the new consumption law will be enforced.

A somewhat comparator law can be found in the United States in the State of Idaho, where “public intoxication” from cannabis is prohibited and punished by up to six months imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine.

The way the law is enforced in that jurisdiction is based on ‘reasonable suspicion’ by the officer, meaning that if an officer has a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that someone has consumed cannabis and is now out in public, they can have them tested, even if it is determined that no actual cannabis was being possessed at the time of the interaction.

It’s a subjective standard that many cannabis advocates around the world try to prevent from being implemented, with advocates pointing out that subjective enforcement is nearly impossible to prevent when such a policy is in place.

The harsher consumer law in Japan is coming after concerns were expressed by lawmakers regarding a ‘spike’ in consumption rates in Japan and a rising rate of arrest for people caught possessing cannabis, particularly young adults.

In the most recent year for which data is available, Japan experienced a 21.5% increase in measured cannabis consumption compared to the previous year. While that may sound alarming to some lawmakers inside and outside of Japan, consider the fact that less than 2% of people in Japan report having consumed cannabis during their entire lives.

By comparison, 41.5% in Canada report having consumed cannabis during their lifetime, and 44.2% in the United States. The double-digit increase in the consumption rate in Japan is more indicative of how low the overall baseline consumption rate was to begin with than it is indicative of a cannabis use epidemic.

You wouldn’t know it by listening to cannabis opponents in Japan, but the nation is home to one of the lowest cannabis usage rates on earth. Lately, it seems that cannabis opponents in Japan have ramped up efforts to try to convince casual policy observers that Japan is experiencing a ‘cannabis usage epidemic.’

In the most recent year for which data is available, Japan experienced a 21.5% increase in measured cannabis consumption compared to the previous year. While that may sound alarming to some lawmakers inside and outside of Japan, consider the fact that less than 2% of people in Japan report having consumed cannabis during their entire lives.

By comparison, 41.5% in Canada report having consumed cannabis during their lifetime, and 44.2% in the United States. The double-digit increase in the consumption rate in Japan is more indicative of how low the overall baseline consumption rate was to begin with than it is indicative of a cannabis use epidemic.

So why does the unfounded rhetoric matter? It matters because that rhetoric is a big reason why Japan’s medical cannabis policies have historically lagged behind other nations located in other parts of the world.

Fortunately, a measure that would permit the distribution and consumption of cannabis-derived medications was recently approved by Japan’s Lower House. The measure would, among other things, permit Epidiolex to be prescribed in Japan. Epidiolex, which contains cannabis-derived cannabidiol (CBD), is already widely available in many parts of the world.

In addition to permitting Epidiolex, the measure would also add cannabis as a banned substance under the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Law, a violation of which would be punishable by up to seven years in prison. Industrial hemp would still be permitted in Japan.

Meanwhile, a Health Ministry panel in Japan voted in recent days to ban the synthetic cannabinoid HHCH. HHCH is a common ingredient in unregulated products, such as gummies, and is often popular in jurisdictions where real cannabis is prohibited. The use of such products was tied to a recent outbreak of illnesses in Japan, as well as in other nations.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare indicated that the government is also considering banning other substances with chemical structures similar to HHCH. In jurisdictions where adult-use cannabis is permitted, demand for synthetic cannabis products is extremely low.

Earlier this month Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare released data pertaining to cannabis-related detainments from 2022. The good news is that the total number of individuals detained by the police, the ministry’s Drug Enforcement Agency, or the Coast Guard in Japan was a mere 5,546, a 4.1% year-on-year decrease.

That number should obviously be zero, and anything more than zero is unacceptable. However, Japan’s arrest statistic is a far cry compared to some other countries around the globe.

To put the 5,546 figure into perspective, consider that 317,793 people were arrested for cannabis by some level of law enforcement in the United States in 2020. To be fair, the United States has roughly 2.65 times as many people compared to Japan, however, it doesn’t take a mathematician to spot the enormous difference in each nation’s arrest rates.

That, in turn, helps put into proper context another statistic from the arrest data, specifically pertaining to arrests of individuals under 30. Of the total arrests, 69.2% of them were of individuals under the age of 30, which is “the highest percentage to date,” according to domestic reporting. If history is any guide, the latest data will be used to push prohibition policies.

As ‘justification’ for a looming crackdown on cannabis use, Japan’s government previously offered up the talking point that ‘cannabis use by young people was increasing at an alarming rate.’ While the rate did technically increase in recent years, it’s important to remember that Japan has one of the lowest consumption rates out of any country on earth.

Japan’s government appears to be set to adopt a limited medical cannabis legalization measure. A health ministry panel in Japan previously issued cannabis policy recommendations, including a recommendation that Japan allow medical cannabis products to be imported. Those recommendations are reportedly on their way to becoming law.

Generally speaking, allowing medical cannabis product imports is a good thing, however, cannabis observers and advocates around the world need to temper their celebrations, as the measure being considered in Japan is very limited upon further inspection, and part of the measure is particularly troubling.

In addition to legalizing products ‘whose safety and efficacy were confirmed under laws governing pharmaceuticals and medical devices’ be allowed for importing, the measure also requires that Japan make cannabis consumption itself a crime if it’s not for authorized medical purposes. Per The Japan News:

The government is poised to allow the use of medical marijuana to treat patients with intractable diseases, according to the outline of bills revealed on Tuesday.

The government is considering submitting the bills including one to revise the Cannabis Control Law during the current Diet session.

The proposed revision would also criminalize the use of marijuana.

Currently, there is no prohibition in Japan for cannabis use, although cultivation, possession, and distribution are strictly prohibited. If the new law is adopted, which it seems like it will be based on reports out of Japan, then simply having cannabis in a person’s system will be a crime.

How do authorities discover that someone has cannabinoids in their system in the first place? In many instances, it will likely be coupled with a possession charge, with law enforcement seeing the person consuming and catching them in the act.

Yet, there’s always the potential that law enforcement merely ‘suspects’ that a person has consumed cannabis, and uses that ‘suspicion’ as ‘justification’ to acquire bodily fluids for testing by whatever invasive means they deem to be useful. It’s an enforcement practice that can easily be weaponized and should never be implemented by any government anywhere.