By Japan has a long history with herbal medicines such as cannabis and hallucinogens, but like most countries in the world, it was forced to amend its drug laws to match the United States after World War II. Today, Japan is in a situation much like the United States was in the 1990s, with activists fighting to re-educate society about its rich history and nascent medical cannabis industry.
Can I bring cannabis into Japan?
Before I explain the cannabis laws in Japan, a few words about bringing cannabis into Japan.As this Japanese custom Pamphlet “Don’t even think about bringing drugs into Japan!” Penalties vary depending on the substance, and even legally prescribed opioids require prior approval from the Japanese government, otherwise you could be arrested when entering the country. Then, cannabisIf you import cannabis into Japan without the intention to sell it, you can be imprisoned for up to 7 years, and if you intend to sell it, you can be imprisoned for 10 years. Possession of cannabis for simple possession is up to five years, while for sale it is seven years. By comparison, Japan’s opium sales laws are less restrictive than cannabis.
History of cannabis use in Japan
in Japan long history Cannabis and hemp date back to the Jomon period (approximately 11,000-300 BC), and some of the earliest evidence of their use is found in earthenware recovered from Fukui prefecture. Junichi Takayasu, who founded the Cannabis Museum in Tochigi Prefecture, is an expert on the history of cannabis in Japan. “Most Japanese think cannabis is a Japanese subculture, but they’re wrong. Cannabis has been very central to Japanese culture for thousands of years.” Over the next few thousand years, cannabis and hemp played an important role in Japanese culture, with hemp being used in the crafting of all sorts of things, from clothing to sacred Shinto ropes, and drugstore-available cannabis-based medicines until the 20th century.
During World War II, Mr. Takayasu said, “There was talk in the military that war could not be fought without cannabis.” After World War II, everything changed. After Japan lost the war, the United States occupied Japan and introduced a prohibitionist view of drugs.
cannabis and religious use
An indigenous Japanese belief system that predates historical records, Shinto is a spirituality that recognizes sacred spirits (kami) in natural objects such as trees, mountains, and waterfalls. Shinto, which translates as “the way of the gods,” pays homage to the spirits of nature through small shrines near them and celebrates the seasons. Shinto also has purification ceremonies, traditionally where Shinto priests wave bundles of hemp leaves.
Beyond the bundle of hemp leaves at the shrine, Shimenawa, a sacred rope made of hemp. Given the importance of hemp to Shinto practitioners, even though cannabis cultivation is very tightly regulated in Japan, those who grow hemp are given special permission to make shimenawa.
CBD is legal but with restrictions
Thanks to a loophole in Japan’s cannabis control law, hemp-derived CBD products Legalized since 2013, as long as it meets certain requirements.First of all, it is virtually impossible to extract CBD from hemp grown in Japan, so all legal CBD products are imported, and those imported products are prove Be THC free. Second, unlike France, CBD flowers are not legal, as the only legal CBD in Japan must be extracted from stems and seeds only.
Despite these limitations, a Tokyo-based research group Estimate Japan’s CBD industry was estimated at $59 million in 2019, almost 20 times more than in 2015. projection It is expected that Japan’s CBD industry could be worth $800 million by 2024.One reason for that growth is that, as in the United States, smart chemists Fine tune your CBD It is converted into THC-O and various other cannabinoids.
Medical cannabis is still in development
Some uses of CBD are legal in Japan, but for now, the medical legalization effort, which began in 2021 when the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced plans that could revise the cannabis control law, is still in its final stages. Part of that reform effort included the establishment of a panel of experts, whose experts recommended a range of reforms, including: medical cannabis legalization. Currently, cannabis regulation law employs a part-based system, where the use of certain parts of the plant is either prohibited or legal (and where did the current CBD loophole come from). Experts say the current reforms include: Ingredient-based system (You’re just looking at the cannabinoid content). The benefits of that switch could include legalizing smoked or vaporized CBD flowers, or the birth of a medical cannabis industry.
japanese psychedelic
Psychedelic mushrooms, peyote and other hallucinogens were legal in Japan until 2002, despite very restrictive laws on cannabis. sold by street vendors And even in the “love hotel” vending machines, there was a general tolerance towards plant psychedelics.it’s all Changed in 2002, when Japanese authorities amended the law to close loopholes regarding plant psychedelics, perhaps because of heightened concern over hordes of mushroom-eating football hooligans at the World Cup. Those enterprising street vendors never went out of business and are now “Dappou Herbis a similar idea to spices and bath salts (quasi-legal drugs) in which plants are sprayed with substances similar to other drugs (stimulants, cannabinoids, hallucinogens, etc.).
