Japan Poised to Allow Medical Marijuana Sales
Credit: Alona
The government in Japan is poised to allow the use of medical marijuana to treat patients with intractable diseases, according to the outline of bills revealed last week.
The government is considering submitting bills including one to revise the Cannabis Control Law during the current Diet (the national legislature of Japan) session, according to Japan News.
The proposed revision would also criminalize the use of marijuana without a prescription.
In countries including the United States and Britain, medicine made from cannabis plants is used to treat patients with intractable epilepsy and other diseases for which existing drugs are ineffective. In Hong Kong, however, THC and non-intoxicating CBD are both banned.
Cannabis plants contain a substance that has an intoxicating effect, which is one of the reasons why the use of marijuana in medicine is prohibited in Japan. The proposed revision would enable such patients to use drugs made from cannabis plants.
On the use of marijuana, there are currently no penalties for using it because farmers who cultivate cannabis with permission from prefectural governors might intake substances from the plant during harvesting.