Advocates on Saturday called for health officials and the government to approve cannabis for medical use, saying that they plan to lobby legislators to decriminalize the drug in Taiwan.
“We will ask legislators to amend the law, which lists cannabis and its derived products as a Category 2 narcotic in the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例),” said Chung Ho-yun (鍾和耘), one of the organizers of a rally held outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to mark 420 Day, an international day for cannabis-related events and protests.
“Our goal is to have it decriminalized — to permit cannabis for medical treatment and other beneficial uses,” he added.
Cannabis advocates are working with the New Power Party (NPP) to introduce an amendment in the legislature, Chung said, adding that they are also seeking support from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“We have the support of NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and other people in his party. There are also DPP legislators who support our cause, but they are reluctant to speak out, because the law vilifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic substance and stigmatizes cannabis use as criminal behavior,” Chung said.
NPP member Wang Yi-kai (王弈凱) said that the rally was a big success, with more than 200 people participating.
“This is the first time in Taiwan’s history that people have campaigned for the decriminalization of cannabis, for its use in medical treatment. It was great to see such good support for decriminalized cannabis, and to have many foreigners joining us in the parade,” he said.
“We know that our campaign still has a long way to go, but this marks a new beginning for Taiwan’s cannabis movement. In 20 or 30 years’ time, people will remember this first public rally, because we plan to organize a 420 Day every year, and maybe hold rallies in the other cities as well,” Chung said.
The group’s statement said that scientific studies have proven cannabis to be an effective medical treatment for ailments, able to alleviate chronic pain and other symptoms of health conditions.
“It has been legalized in Canada, Uruguay and several other countries, as well as many states in the US,” the statement said.
“We organized this peaceful parade and officially approved public assembly to publicize our cause, encourage rational discourse and open dialogue about this issue in our society and curb the stigma attached to people using cannabis,” it said.
“We urge the administration and legislators to join the worldwide legalization movement. Our society should discard the outdated concept of cannabis as an ‘evil drug,’ and should start the process of decriminalization right now,” Chung said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods