The reality that Japan's system fails to address the children who are not even given a choice
"It might work, but I can't use it" - A mother's decision
In 2023, a mother living in Tokyo was faced with a choice for her 5-year-old daughter who suffers from severe epilepsy. The doctor told her that the medication she was currently using would not stop her seizures. She had tried most anti-epileptic drugs and suffered from side effects, but no results were seen every day. In the midst of all this, she came across multiple cases in which the CBD formulation “Epidiolex,” approved overseas, was effective for children with intractable epilepsy. It is approved by the FDA in the United States and prescribed at the doctor’s discretion in the UK. Above all, there are reports of children who had been experiencing dozens of seizures a day becoming happier and having their seizures halved after being administered CBD. The mother was hopeful and considered importing it. However, in Japan, CBD formulations are unapproved medicines, and special permission from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is required for personal importation. In addition, she learned that if the product contains even a trace amount of THC, there is even a risk of being arrested for violating the Cannabis Control Act. If it is stopped at customs, the parent may be arrested.
“I want to save my daughter, but I can’t become a criminal to do so.”
She eventually gave up using CBD, and her daughter still suffers from daily seizures.
Japan: A country where choices "don't exist"
Like this mother, there are countless families in Japan who are forced to give up on CBD due to the risks associated with the system, even though they know the scientific evidence that CBD is effective and the medical records of other countries. In other words, in Japan, CBD is an “indispensable treatment, even if it is effective.” The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will revise the Cannabis Control Act in 2023, making the use of THC for medical purposes “subject to consideration,” but the actual system design and approval process remain untouched. There has never been an example of a CBD preparation being officially approved as a medicine in Japan, and there is no system in place for doctors to prescribe it. This “gap” in the system is having a negative impact on the daily workforce.
“Not violating the law is not necessarily what’s best medically.”
These are the words of a pediatrician. Caught between scientific rationality and ethics, doctors too are forced to reserve their judgement.
Should the system, rather than science, decide the "value of life"?
The therapeutic effects of CBD have already been scientifically backed to a certain extent by multiple clinical trials and the opinions of international organizations. The WHO has stated that “CBD is not abuseable and has therapeutic effects,” and the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs also adopted an exemption from regulations in 2020. While countries around the world are moving forward with the implementation of CBD in actual medical settings, Japan is the only country that is in a state where “the discussion has not even begun.” It is not the system or politics that are paying the price for this delay. It is ** “children who had no choice” and “families who could not take action.”**
“If only that drug was available in Japan…”
With that in mind, I have no choice but to count the number of seizures today. It is a state in which lives are being sifted out into whether they are “illegal” or “legal.”
Is it really okay to have to "wait for the system" when it comes to choosing life?
The technology is there. The data is there. Some countries have proven its effectiveness. What is lacking is a flexible system in Japanese society, and social imagination. I understand the prejudice and political resistance that accompanies the word marijuana. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there are lives that continue to suffer behind the scenes of that word. Laws exist to protect, but it is precisely laws that cannot protect lives that need to be updated. So that we do not further take away the futures of children who were not given a choice. What Japan needs is the courage to start a discussion on whether it is necessary, rather than whether it is illegal.