Health ministry mulls legalizing marijuana for medical use
By KAI ICHINO/ Staff Writer
May 26, 2022 at 19:00 JST
The health ministry is seeking to legalize marijuana for medical use in Japan
while considering introducing a new legal provision to criminalize its usage f
or recreational purposes.
The ministry’s expert panel met on May 25 to begin discussions on revising t
he Cannabis Control Law, which was enacted in 1948.
The move comes as the ministry in June 2021 compiled a report recommending th
at the government allow the use of drugs that contain substances of marijuana
to treat refractory epilepsy as the United States and other countries have app
roved such medications.
This summer, the ministry plans to draft proposals to revise the Cannabis Con
trol Law.
The current law prohibits the cultivation and possession of cannabis as well
as the manufacturing of medicines made from it. The ban targets the spikes, le
aves, roots and ungrown stalk of the cannabis plant.
But those parts of the plant contain substances that can be used for medicati
ons. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a hallucinogen, is believed to be harmful to
people’s mental health, while cannabidiol (CBD), another substance, is though
t to cause little harm to humans.
All the Group of Seven countries, excluding Japan, have authorized the use of
epilepsy drugs that contain CBD derived from marijuana.
When revising the Cannabis Control Law, the ministry intends to ban certain s
ubstances of marijuana instead of parts of the cannabis plant to make it easie
r for people to use marijuana for medical purposes.
But those legal revisions could also help spread the use of marijuana, includ
ing drugs containing THC.
THC is mixed into some imported drugs offered online that are supposed to con
tain only CBD, posing challenges in cracking down on such products.
The panel will also discuss adding a new provision to the Cannabis Control La
w to criminally punish the use of marijuana, except for medicinal purposes.
The law has had no such penal provisions since concerns were raised when the
law took effect that farmers growing the cannabis plant could be punished for
symptoms resulting from unintentionally inhaling substances of marijuana.
But no substances of marijuana were detected in urine tests on those farmers,
according to a survey conducted by the ministry in 2019.
Offenders would face severe punishment if the new provision is introduced.
But some experts are calling for offering more treatment to those addicted to
marijuana to prevent repeat offenses, instead of imposing criminal penalties,
citing data that shows many users of marijuana in Japan are young people.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14630593
拎娘日文版居然是有料
厚生劳动省正在寻求医疗用大麻合法化的可能
同时也在考虑将娱乐用大麻入罪
在25日的专家会议讨论到修改1948年至今的大麻管制法
厚劳生在去年六月收到应该向美国将大麻作为医用的建议
今夏厚劳省提出了修改大麻管制法的草案
目前的大麻管制法是禁止制造和拥有大麻叶、茎和根和其成分成的药物
大麻含有两种成分 THC致幻剂被认为有害心理健康
CBD大麻二酚被认为几乎无害
目前G7里面只有日本是依然禁止大麻二酚相关的药物
修法时会采取禁止特定成分而非大麻的植物部位
让医疗用大麻更容易被使用
此案也可能造成娱乐用大麻泛滥
像本来应只有CBD的进口药物混有THC成分 会触犯此法律
这次会议也讨论到将医疗用途外的大麻入罪
也讨论到可能会对种植大麻的农民产生影响
但2019年的报告显示并没有大麻成分从农民尿液中被检测到
如果修法通过 违法者将会面临重罪
也有专家呼吁应该给予大麻使用者治疗而非刑罚
因为在日本大麻使用者多是年轻族群
我再次宣布台湾正式成为大麻沙漠