Imported health food and cosmetics incorporating a cannabis-derived element called cannabidiol, or CBD, are in wider use in Japan due to their purported medical benefits and other effects, such as improving sleeplessness and relieving pain.
At the same time, however, requests for advice about health damage from the products have increased while instances of illegal elements being mixed into them have been found, prompting the health ministry to be vigilant.
CBD, extracted from grown stalks and seeds of cannabis plants, has no psychotropic effects. By contrast, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which can be extracted from other parts of cannabis plants, is regulated under the cannabis control act mainly due to its hallucinatory effect.
According to the Japan Cosmetic Association, the number of imported products incorporating CBD in the Japanese market increased substantially after the health ministry said in 2019 that a treatment for refractory epilepsy containing CBD can be used in clinical trials under certain conditions.
Businesses advertise CBD products as potable beauty oil, for example, on their websites. But in 2020, a Japanese health food importer specializing in CBD products was forced to recall about 1,000 oil products from Denmark due to the discovery of THC in some of them.
Also, there were a number of cases in which CBD oil products were found to contain THC. The health ministry had conducted by February 2021 a sample survey on products in the domestic market. Although THC was not detected, the ministry remains on alert, with an official saying continued surveys are needed.
The number of inquiries about CBD products received by the Tokyo Metropolitan Comprehensive Consumer Center has surged, from 84 in fiscal 2019 to 316 in fiscal 2020.
Of them, those about health damage stood at two in fiscal 2019 and 11 in fiscal 2020, including cases in which users of heat-not-burn tobacco products containing CBD complained of headache or nausea, according to Atsushi Momose, chief of the center’s consultation section.
“There have been overseas reports of side effects of CBD products, including liver function disorder, diarrhea and nausea,” said Masahiko Funada, head of the drug addiction research laboratory at the National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry. “We want people to report immediately to relevant organization if they feel unwell after using such products.”
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
