According to AFP, Japan has enacted a bill legalizing cannabis-based pharmaceuticals in a significant revision of its strict drug laws, while strengthening a prohibition on recreational marijuana use.
Changes to Japan's cannabis and drug control regulations approved by the upper chamber of parliament would pave the way for the removal of the prohibition on cannabis-derived medical goods.
Cannabis-based medications containing the active element cannabidiol, or CBD, are already being used to treat a variety of diseases, including severe epilepsy, in other countries.
This is a success for patient advocacy groups fighting for access to these medications.
The reforms, however, result in a tightening of Japan's already stringent cannabis regulations.
Marijuana use has been declared illegal.
Officials attribute some of the recent surge in cannabis-related arrests to this.
Prior to the revisions, inhaling marijuana was theoretically lawful, whereas possession was punishable by up to five years in prison.
This regulation was initially enacted to protect farmers who inadvertently breathed psychoactive smoke while producing hemp.
However, worried by the recent increase in the number of cannabis arrests, particularly among young people, including teens, authorities decided to take action.
People caught smoking or carrying marijuana under the new regulations face up to seven years in prison.
According to Ministry of Health data, the number of cannabis-related arrests hit a new high of 5,783 in 2021, with a substantial increase among youths and persons in their twenties.
In a 2020 police poll of 748 persons detained for marijuana possession, 30% highlighted the lack of consequences for use as an encouraging factor.
"As more and more young people turn to marijuana abuse, we hope that this revision will put an end to the trend," senior government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said after parliament passed the measure.
The Cannabis Control Act of Japan was enacted in 1948 under the postwar US occupation, but it is not an outlier in Asia, where draconian penalties for drug usage are the norm.
However, decades of a fervent government war against illicit narcotics, associated with the motto "dame zettai" (absolutely not), have resulted in marijuana being heavily stigmatized in Japan.
According to the health ministry, just 1.4% of Japanese individuals have used marijuana, compared to more than 40% in France and around half in the United States.
Japan's harsh anti-cannabis laws have ensnared international icons such as Paul McCartney, who spent nine days in jail in 1980 when the narcotic was discovered in his suitcase./BGNES
