Fakkuappu: Japan is struggling with cannabis reform

Any country enacting new laws for an unstoppable global cannabis revolution has had trouble implementing “new” regulations – and the Japanese are no exception.

This year there have actually been repeated mishaps and embarrassing false starts, which so far have led to significant problems when it comes to the small details.

This starts with the fact that, despite increasing liberalization, the Japanese seem to be stepping backwards almost everywhere on cannabis reform.

On June 11, a panel of the Ministry of Health stated that cannabis use (high in THC) was criminalized (due to concerns about the “misuse” of the drug by young people).

Meanwhile, cannabis-derived drugs (which are currently restricted in Japan) are allowed, including through imports.

In addition, legal hemp farmers are not completely over the moon either.

A history of cannabis reform in Japan

The current Japanese cannabis law was enacted in 1948, right after World War II.

Until that time, cannabis was a cherished part of the country’s culture and religion. After 1948, thanks to the American occupation, the Cannabis Control Act essentially copied the American legal system of the time.

It was only thanks to the emperor’s direct intervention that the hemp industry could be saved from total extinction. The hemp industry was allowed to flourish as a legal industry.

Unfortunately, the number of hemp farmers has steadily declined since the 1950s due to the cost of obtaining a license and the at least until now declining demand for natural fibers.

Aside from limited commercial production, current law prohibits the possession and cultivation of “cannabis”. Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, was banned from entering Japan for eleven years after being arrested in 1980 for bringing nearly eight ounces of marijuana on a visit. National companies like Toshiba have stopped sponsoring athletes caught with the drug.

While there is a sizeable criminal penalty for both (five and seven years’ imprisonment, respectively) with additional fines ranging from two to three million yen, there is no criminal penalty for actual use.

If this were Holland, such gray areas of the law could be enough to spark an entire industry. Not such luck for the Japanese, however. In fact, in 2018, when Canada legalized recreational use, the Japanese government warned that it was still illegal for Japanese people living abroad to use cannabis, even if they lived in a place like Canada, where recreational cannabis use became legal.

One of the main reasons for this lack of clear regulation, however, is the fact that hemp has actually been used in the country for centuries – including to make special “Shimenawa” ropes for Shinto shrines. The commercial sale of CBD has been allowed in Japan since 2016.

However, it’s not that the weeds haven’t added the stigma of consumption. Recently, this suspicion has even fallen on cultivators. In fact, the recent debate about a legislative change to criminalize consumption began with a discussion about farmers who grow and handle the plant (namely, that it is obvious that they can accidentally inhale cannabinoids while at work).

In February of this year, the Japanese Ministry of Health released test results showing that cannabinoids had not ended up in the farmers’ urine. As a result, despite objections from three of the 12 members on the panel, the panel decided to continue setting penalties for illicit, non-medical use.

Last year, in 2020, 5,273 people were involved in cannabis cases that were logged by the police and the Narcotics Control Department of the Ministry of Health. In the past five years alone, these numbers have doubled. 65 percent of the total were people under 30 years of age.

Despite the current focus on prosecuting “users”, the current regulations for hemp farmers are still causing problems on the agricultural side.

Starting in September, the Department of Health, Labor and Social Welfare will publish a new report with clearer guidelines for the hemp growing industry. One change will be that farmers will be able to sell hemp nationally – in other words, outside of their local prefecture (or state). Another will be to reduce the amount of time that surveillance cameras need to store footage (currently five years).

If this is Japanese-style reform, it leaves a lot to be desired.