Japan plans to legalize medical cannabis

The Japanese Ministry of Health is considering legalizing the medical marijuana, while proposing to further criminalize its recreational use.

A group of experts from the ministry met on May 25 to begin discussions on revising the Cannabis Control Act, which was enacted in 1948.

This decision This comes after the ministry drafted a report in June 2021 recommending that the government authorize the use of cannabis-based medications to treat refractory epilepsy.

The Japanese Ministry of Health plans to draft proposals to revise the Cannabis Control Act as early as this summer.

A strict ban

The Current Japanese law prohibits the cultivation and possession of cannabis as well as the manufacture of cannabis-based medicines. The ban applies to flowers, leaves, and roots and the uncultivated stem of the cannabis plant.

All G7 countries, with the exception of Japan, have approved the use of anti-epileptic drugs that contain cannabis, most often only CBD with Epidyolex.

However, the country does not want to end prohibition and is seeking to add a new provision to the Cannabis Control Act to make the use of non-medical cannabis a criminal offense.

However, some experts are calling for more treatment options to be made available to people with addictions to prevent relapses, rather than imposing criminal penalties, citing data that shows that many cannabis users in Japan are young people.