Japanese Ministry of Health to Discuss Medical Cannabis Legalization

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2. “I mean, they’re always saying はい、はい、はい right? They must be into the idea!”

3. Lmfao yeah right

4. Gotta start somewhere but I don’t think people are even ready to talk, including the majority of Japanese people

5. Up to a few years ago I would’ve said “never in my lifetime,” but now that Korea, Thailand and (for cannabinoids) Singapore have revised their laws, I have updated that sentiment to “*probably* never in my lifetime.”

6. Some yanki kids were smoking in my local park this weekend, right at the entrance no less. I saw smoke as I walked past them and was expecting the smell of cigarettes not an old friend. I still hope it stays illegal here.

7. Just make Osaka the Cannabis Exclusion Zone (CEZ), that’s where most of the weed probably is anyway.

8. 😮

9. Japan has been educating people that all drugs except alcohol and tobacco are methamphetamine so I don’t think it would work

10. Peeps gotta start to realize that this won’t be happening in Japan anytime soon tbh

11. Quick someone check the temperature in hell.

12. I don’t know, I say this from reading Japanese comments online, but it seems that conservative people would support it because Japan traditionally used hemp paper and ropes or something like that, while progressive people think that marijuana isn’t so bad

13. If Japan legalized marijuana it would boost the tourism sector. In Vancouver we have a lot of Japanese people who come here and try legalized cannabis. You would be surprised how many Japanese citizens partake in the cannabis even though they’re technically not allowed.

14. The Shichimi Spice cartel will never allow it. They need to have a monopoly of hemp seeds

15. I don’t know how true this is, but a real-estate agent I was chatting with (on the way to see an apartment) was telling me that his grandparent’s generation (pre-war) who lived up north around Aomori used to smoke it fairly often. Apparently people didn’t make a fuss about weed until the US occupation.

    Of course, that’s purely anecdotal, but still kinda interesting.

16. Legalize ittt

17. Why is it not legal? What is the rational?

18. There is no reason to make marijuana legal.
    The West just can’t ban marijuana because it has become so prevalent.

19. Not in my lifetime.

20. Lol ‘discuss’

    So let’s discuss cannabis…

    Japan: No.

21. Cannabis will be FULLY legal in Japan in less than a decade. I’m 100% confident making that prediction.

    *”But but but…but it’s SOOOO illegal here!!*

    *”But but but….Japanese people think it’s worse than heroine!!”*

    Please. First of all, all of the people who think that Japan is just soooo strict when it comes to weed have clearly never travelled much.

    Yes, cannabis prohibition is strongly enforced. And yes, the laws are much stricter here than in America and Western Europe.

    But once you zoom out past that, Japan’s cannabis laws are fairly middle of the road. Up until *very* recently, Thailand had a 15 year prison sentence for possession. In Singapore, they’ll straight up kill you if they think you’re trying to sell it.

    Here’s the deal with Japan’s cannabis laws – if you get caught with weed, you’re looking at a maximum 5 years in prison (7 if you’re caught growing).

    However, the vast majority of those (first-time) convictions end up in suspended sentences – NOT jail time.

    Don’t get it twisted – if you get caught with weed here, you’re in some *shit*. Think publicly grovelling for police forgiveness in front of your friends and family and being sacked from your job (or being sent on your merry way if you’re a foreigner).

    **But it’s not a multi-decade stay in the fucking Bangkok Hilton.**

    And to all the foreigners who think that the Japanese are just brainwashed sheeple who *legitimately* believe that weed is the devil’s lettuce (LOL), you clearly hang out with some very naive people.

    I’ve lived here for almost a decade. I’ve talked to A LOT of Japanese people about pot. And while most of them have a slightly exaggerated sense of how dangerous it is, the hyperbolic reactions that most gaijin are reporting have been few and far between.

    So why do I think it’s going to be legal in less than 10 years? Bro…MONEY.

    Cannabis is a **$35 billion industry globally**. There’s so much money in legal weed its insane.

    And if you think Japan Inc is going to sacrifice a piece of that, you’re out of your fucking mind. There’s already behind the scenes talks between the big beverage companies (infused drinks and edibles are an enormous submarket) putting pressure on the Japanese government to loosen the rules.

    Right now, the ONLY thing even remotely holding the cannabis industry back is America – everyone’s sitting around and waiting for the US to deschedule cannabis and legalize it at the federal level.

    Once that happens, all bets are off. Things are going to explode QUICKLY, and I fully expect to see a domino effect.

    And for those of you who just can’t possibly wrap your minds around legal Japanese pot, consider that less than 5 years ago the situation in Thailand was EXPONENTIALLY worse than it is in Japan (trust me, I was there).

    Now the Prime Minister is walking around in public with a fucking stuffed ganja mascot while the Thai government is *literally* giving away a million plants to its citizens.

    Things have a way of changing quickly.