Part 1

BY: SHIRASAKA KAZUHIKO & SHIGERU ASO

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE LEGALIZATION OF CANNABIS IN JAPAN. WE WOULD DEEPLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOUR POLITICAL PARTY WOULD ANSWER OUR QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE THE ELECTIONS FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, REGARDING THE CANNABIS CONTROL ACT AND THE FUTURE DRUG POLICIES OF JAPAN. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THE RESULTS WOULD BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE.

 

QUESTIONNAIRE

 

ATTENTION: __________ PARTY

PLEASE CIRCLE THE APPROPRIATE ANSWER

REGARDING: DRUG POLICIES

THE CURRENT JAPANESE DRUG POLICIES ARE MODELED AFTER THE U.S., AS WE HAVE A ZERO TOLERENCE POLICY ON ALL ILLICIT DRUGS. HOWEVER, IN EUROPE FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH. MANY COUNTRIES TODAY APPLY A HARM REDUCTION POLICY, AIMED TO REDUCE THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF DRUGS ON NOT ONLY INDIVIDUALS BUT SOCIETY AT LARGE. IN SUCH COUNTRIES, SALES OF HARD DRUGS USUALLY REMAIN PROHIBITTED, BUT FOR THE END USER AN APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR BETTER HEALTH AND RECOVERY IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL, AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO INCARCERATION. THE SO-CALLED LEGAL DRUG SCENE ALSO NEEDS ATTENTION, FOR WE HAVE NO MEDICAL OR SOCIAL PROGRAMS TO HELP THOSE WHO ARE IN DIRE NEED OF RECOVERY FROM SUCH HARMFUL UNKNOWN CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES.

SO HERE IS OUR FIRST QUESTION…

QUESTION 1

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE HARM REDUCTION POLICY?

A. THE ZERO TOLERENCE POLICY IS SUFFICIENT

B. IT IS NECCESSARY TO CONSIDER THE HARM REDUCTION POLICY

C. DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER

D. OTHER (PLEASE ELABORATE)

REGARDING: PERSONAL USE OF CANNABIS

CANNABIS HAS BEEN STUDIED THOROUGHOLY AND EXTENSIVELY THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, ESPECIALLY IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND USAGE OF CANNABIS HAS BEEN PROVED SCIENTIFICALLY TO BE LESS HARMFUL THAN TABACCO AND ALCOHOL. THE ONLY MODERN COUNTRIES THAT PUNISHES PERSONAL CANNABIS USE WITH INCARCERATION IS THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND JAPAN. HOWEVER, IN THE U.S., MANY STATES HAVE DECRIMINALIZED SIMPLE POSSESSION OF CANNABIS, AND WASHINGTON STATE AND COLORADO STATE JUST LEGALIZED THE CANNABIS FOR RECREATIONAL USE.

QUESTION 2

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PERSONAL CANNABIS USE BEING PUNISHED BY INCARCERATION?

A. INCARCERATION FITS THE CRIME

B. MUST RECONSIDER OUR POLICIES, AS OTHER NATIONS HAVE

C. DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER

D. OTHER (PLEASE ELABORATE)

REGARDING: OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON CANNABIS

IN OUR COUNTRY, OUR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE ANY PUBLIC OR OFFICIAL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION OR DATA REGARDING CANNABIS. CANNABIS WAS BANNED BY THE U.S. OCCUPATIONAL FORCES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR TWO. WE HAVE OBTAINED THE ONLY OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND LABOR, AMD FOUND OUT THAT THEIR DATA IS NOT BASED ON ANY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. EVEN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND LABOR OFFICIAL ADMITS THAT THEY HAVE NO MEDICAL OR SCIENTIFIC DATA REGARDING THIS SUBJECT.

QUESTION 3

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT OUR GOVERNMENT USES A DRUG SAMPLE KIT IMPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES OVER 15 YEARS AGO FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES AS EVIDENCE TO BAN THE PERSONAL USE AND CULTIVATION OF CANNABIS?

A. OUR CURRENT POLICIES ARE SUFFICIENT

B. WE MUST DO MORE MEDICAL RESEARCH ON THIS TOPIC

C. DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER

D. OTHER (PLEASE ELABORATE)

REGARDING: THE STUDIES OF MEDICAL CANNABIS

IN MANY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT CANNABIS HAS VARIOUS MEDICAL PROPERTIES, AND SOME COUNTRIES ALLOW THE SALE OF MEDICAL CANNABIS. IN JAPAN, UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR, PHARMACIES SOLD CANNABIS TINCTURE FOR MANY DIFFERENT ILLNESS’ AS WELL. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE CANNABIS CONTROL ACT PART 4, EVEN CLINICAL TESTING IS STRICTLY PRHIBITTED BY LAW, PUNISHABLE BY INCARCERATION.

QUESTION 4

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT DILEMMA THAT DOES NOT ALLOW FURTHERING THE STUDIES FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS?

A. MEDICAL CANNABIS STUDIES SHOULD REMAIN BANNED

B. MEDICAL CANNABIS USE MUST BE STUDIED AND THERFORE THE LAWS MUST BE CHANGED

C. DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER

D. OTHER (PLEASE ELABORATE)

REGARDING: INDUSTRIAL HEMP

UNTIL THE END OF WORLD WAR II, WHEN CANNABIS CULTIVATION WAS SEVERLY RESTRICTED BY THE OCCUPYING FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS HAD A BIG HEMP INDUSTRY, AND ALSO THIS CROP WAS A BIG PART OF OUR CULTURE AND SOCIETY. CURRENTLY, IN MANY COUNTRIES THIS CROP HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE EXTREMELY USEFUL AND ECO-FRIENDLY. HOWEVER, IN OUR COUNTRY, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND LABOR WHO OVERSEES AND REGULATES THE CANNABIS CONTROL ACT RESTRICTS INDUSTRIAL HEMP DUE TO NON-SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. SUCH CANNABIS CONTAINS EXTREMELY LOW THC LEVELS, BUT THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT SEEM TO ALLOW SUCH AN INDUSTRY TO FLOURISH.

QUESTION 5

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP WITH LOW THC LEVELS?

A. EVEN INDUSTRIAL HEMP SHOULD BE STRICTLY REGULATED

B. INDUSTRIAL HEMP WITH EXTREMELY LOW THC LEVELS SHOULD NOT BE STRICTLY REGULATED

C. DO NOT KNOW

D. OTHER (PLEASE ELABORATE)

THAT’S IT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

(…TO BE CONTINUED, AS WE GET SOME REPLIES FROM 13 POLITICAL PARTIES)