Turned off in Asia
Conservative social attitudes underlie resistance to legalising marijuana use, though some countries are cautiously exploring medical applications.
Uruguay became the first country to legalise marijuana entirely in July last year. Residents over age 18 can smoke cannabis in public and purchase it either from a pharmacy or harvest a crop of up to six plants.
Canada last week became the first G7 country to legalise recreational cannabis use with a Senate vote, and commercial sales are expected to start by the fourth quarter of this year. Australia legalised the plant for medicinal use in 2016 and legal recreational use is now being discussed. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has pledged to hold a referendum on pot legalisation before the next general election in 2021.
Marijuana laws in many countries in Europe are also relaxed, but Asia is a different story. Recreational use of marijuana is still illegal in all Asian countries with harsh penalties in many. You can be also be sentenced to death if you are considered a trafficker in Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
Given the strict rules applied to users and sellers, it’s no surprise that Asia is home to seven of the world’s 10 most expensive cities to buy marijuana. A gramme costs US$30.55 in Tokyo and $23.21 in Bangkok, compared with less than $10 in most cities in North America.
One surprising regional exception is Jakarta, where marijuana consumption is high and prices very low at $3.54 a gramme, despite the harsh consequences of being caught.
“That illegal cannabis use is so high in countries that still carry the death penalty such as Pakistan and Egypt [should show] those in power … how desperately new legislation is needed,” Uri Zeevi, the chief marketing officer of Seedo, told The Guardian.
High prices in Japan reflect a tough Cannabis Control Act that punishes use and possession with up to five years’ imprisonment, while social sanctions such as job losses and exclusion are common. The Japanese public takes a very dim view of any kind of drug use, with the exception of alcohol.
Attitudes are similar in South Korea, where K-pop idol T.O.P. from the boy band Big Bang made headlines after receiving a suspended 10-month jail sentence last year for smoking pot in 2016. He later entered hospital after overdosing on tranquillisers and subsequently was judged unfit to return to service as a conscripted policeman.
In Japan, former actress Saya Takagi was arrested in 2016 for marijuana possession after she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the House of Councillors on a platform to legalise pot for medical purposes. Reruns of her shows have since been scrubbed from the networks. She has also been demonised by local media as a “woman of loose morals”.
Akie Abe, the wife of Japan’s prime minister, once said she believed marijuana could be used for medical purposes, but her husband’s government thinks otherwise. A hemp farmer in Tottori Prefecture, who became famous when Mrs Abe promoted his product, was arrested in 2016 for marijuana possession, and she has been silent on the issue since then.
“The World Health Organization has not acknowledged there are scientific grounds [for legal medical use],” a Japanese health ministry official told Reuters in 2016. “Given that marijuana is already abused, we need to be truly careful.”
The WHO in fact notes that several studies have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids for nausea and vomiting in the advanced stages of illnesses such as cancer and Aids.
“Other therapeutic uses ... are being demonstrated by controlled studies, including treatment of asthma and glaucoma, as an antidepressant, appetite stimulant, anticonvulsant and anti-spasmodic, research in this area should continue,” its website says.
However, the WHO also points out that the harmful effects of cannabis use have long been recognised, notably impairment of cognitive development and motor coordination. The ability to operate machinery can be impaired for as long as 24 hours after smoking as little as 20 milligrammes of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Authorities in countries where pot is being legalised fear a sharp increase in cannabis-impaired drivers and accidents.
According to the US-based National Institute on Drug Abuse, the amount of THC in marijuana has increased dramatically in recent decades. In the mid-1990s, the average THC content of confiscated marijuana was roughly 4%. By 2014, it was about 12%.
No one has ever died from overdosing on marijuana but other health risks are substantial. They include damage to the trachea and major bronchi from long-term smoking, lung inflammation and impaired pulmonary defence against infection. Besides health risks, there are also other concerns.
“The main risk of cannabis is losing control of your cannabis intake,” Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at the Marron Institute at New York University, told Vox, an American news website. “That’s going to have consequences in terms of the amount of time you spend not fully functional. When that is hours per day times years, that’s bad.”
The perception that marijuana is harmless can actually make users more comfortable falling into a habit of constantly smoking it. The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has that marijuana can even induce schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms, and is potentially harmful to babies in the womb.
According to the WHO, cannabis used during pregnancy is associated with impairment in foetal development leading to a reduction in birth weight. So far, however, there is no link between marijuana and cancers in the lung, head and neck as associated with tobacco.
Less clear is the role, if any, of marijuana as a “gateway drug” to more harmful substances such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers say a similar case could be made for legal drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol given their easier availability.
Asia is just starting to warm to the idea of medical marijuana but acceptance is outweighed by concerns associated with recreational use that remain rooted in conservative social attitudes.
However, Singapore is now beginning to do research on medical marijuana. Thailand is preparing to begin controlled cultivation of marijuana for research and medical use, with human testing and legalisation for medical purposes possibly to follow. The Philippines, where thousands have died in a savage anti-drug war, is following a similar path.
“The main risk of cannabis is losing control of your cannabis intake. That’s going to have consequences in terms of the amount of time you spend not fully functional. When that is hours per day times years, that’s bad” MARK KLEIMAN US drug policy expert