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| Photo: Kenichi Nalita |
| Kenichi Nalita came to the United States in a fight for his life as a medical cannabis patient battling Crohn's disease. Now Kenichi's facing another fight -- to be able to stay here. (Yes, Ken tells me the correct spelling of his last name is Nalita.) |
Kenichi Nalita, the very first medical marijuana user to fight for his rights in Japanese courts, told Toke of the Town that he hopes the U.S. will accept him as a political prisoner seeking asylum, since he can obtain medicinal cannabis in California but not in Japan.
"I'm a patient of Crohn's disease," Nalita told us. "And I guess you might know that my disease is able to be taken care of by a couple grams of cannabis per day. It controls my immune system and inflammation, and also helps rebuilding mucous membranes in my bowel.
"That's exactly what Western medications (steroids, immune inhibition treatment, anti-inflammatories) are trying to do," he said. "And it's even better, without any diet limitation and no severe side effects."
In an ironic twist, the United States is the reason cannabis is even illegal in Japan, according to Nalita. After World War II, when Japan was under U.S. military rule, the puppet government there was coerced into passing marijuana prohibition similar to that of the United States.
"Did you know that the U.S. government forced Japan to start the abuse on cannabis?" he asked us.
"It's what's written on the abuse law itself," Nalita said. "If Douglas MacArthur -- who was born a century before me -- didn't do that to Japan, my life could be totally different. Before that, it was a national plant. Japan's first religion, 'Shin-tou,' is deeply related to it.
"Japan was a country of cannabis," Nalita told us. "But too sad, there is no 'if' in reality. The result is this: Where are my human rights?"
How The Story Started
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| Photo: Kenichi Nalita |
| Kenichi Nalita: "This is my only chance to live a normal life" |
Ken was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in January 2004. But the symptoms didn't start until he was 19, in 1999.
"I smoked a little for awhile, before I came to know the effect of cannabis on my own disease," he told us. "I think that helped me from getting worse.
"Later on, I found some website, like Michelle Rainey's, and some associations... but under consideration about Japanese society, it looked too tough to change things for that moment. It's too hopeless," Kenichi told us. "I kept quiet, a keep-safe life for myself."
But in November 2008, Kenichi got busted in Tokyo for possession of three grams of hashish and a couple of LSD microdots.
"I know, this is making things more complicated," Nalita admits. "I use those to control my mental state, to deal with the absurdity of reality. Without the experience, I might not even be alive. I thought about committing suicide thousands of times -- it's also a dangerous side-effect from steroids -- till I reached my own decision to 'accept my own fate,' after diagnosis. This is my philosophy. I am always trying to take science's way of thinking."
After a month in jail, Ken got out on bail and decided to fight against the prosecution under the Jusice/Human Rights sections of the Japanese Constitution.
"What I'm saying to the court is, 'About acid, I can accept guilty according to the difficulty of proving medical necessity at this time. But about cannabis, I'm clearly totally innocent,' " Nalita said.
"Honestly, it's too tough to fight about two things at the same time, and acid is mostly about my mental state," Kenichi said. "I know there's some research to ease the fear of dying patients in some country like Switzerland. It helped me a lot, too. Even though they don't have enough evidence yet to fight on it. I should say 'I'm sorry' to Albert Hofmann about this, though. I just gave up about this point."
But cannabis was a different story, and Nalita decided to put up a fight against his hashish conviction.
"It's totally wrong to bust people under lies and propaganda which are not based on scientific evidence," Ken told Toke of the Town. "The Japanese government doesn't have any data about effects of cannabis on the human body, because of the abuse law itself. So, nobody could or can make any research in Japan on this forever, since the law exists."
"And here is a doctor in the U.S. who could make sure that my use of cannabis is correct under medicinal necessity," Nalita said. "I have my letter [PDF], and it's presented as evidence in my case. Dr. Jeffrey Y. Hergenrather, an authority on cannabis treatment of Crohn's disease... I started trying to communicate with some people on the cannabis scene in the States, like Chris Conrad."
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| Photo: Kenichi Nalita |
| Kenichi became a well-known medical cannabis activist in Japan -- because he fought for his rights. |
Kenichi was then invited as a speaker for meetings and demonstrations -- including a Marijuana March in Tokyo -- and appeared in several Japanese magazines in 2009, the same year he started his personal blog. (You can find Nalita's blog near the top of the search results -- next to Wikipedia -- if you google the Japanese word "医療大麻," which means "medical cannabis." If you are using multi-language OS, the characters show up.)
Nalita became perhaps the most prominent man on on the Japanese medical cannabis scene.
But at his November 2, 2009 court appearance, the judge said "There is no medicinal cannabis, because Japanese doctors are not saying anything about it."
"And also it is bought on the street -- so it is guilty," Nalita told us. "Yes -- of course they can't say anything, because they can't do any medicinal research on it."
"As a matter of fact, the whole mass media in Japan is sponsored (the same as jacked) by pharmaceutical companies, and they don't let broadcasters tell anything good about cannabis," Nalita told us. "A TV director told me this happened on the program he was working on, about my case."
"So most people living there [in Japan] are still believing the old-school propaganda," Ken explained to us. "Because the TV and their government says so. People can't even have any thought or doubt. Most of them can't even read English. They can't see what's going on outside their country. So the first step should be showing off the truth."
Nalita did that through six months of broadcasting on MMLF.TV (Medical Marijuana Liberation Front, mostly in Japanese) and a few magazine articles. "I talked with the Japanese DEA, the Supreme Court, Ministry of Health, professors of medical departments of a couple of universities."
One of the university professors just told him, straight up: "I'm still the dog of government; I can't take your side." "That is an extremely scary truth for someone who believes in academic freedom," Kenichi said.
He tried to enlist the support of other activists in Japan ("They call themselves so, but for me it seems like they are confusing school festival and advocacy") and other cannabis patients ("Most of them are just too afraid of losing payment assistance from the government by saying something against the government.")
"Facing the whole truth is tough," Nalita said.
"The result I got is a conversation -- it's recorded -- in the office of the political party in power, saying 'You shouldn't expect justice in Japanese courts nor politics; that's the reality here. Court is a set-up, and judges are just employees. Politics is not the place to make things rational... We are not doing anything for this case, since this topic is not making any rights and interests for our party. Do it yourself if you want. But if you really try, somebody will come stop you. And the National Public Safety Commission can even make innocent people into murderers."
"These guys run the Japanese government!" Ken exclaimed. "They don't even hide this from me, maybe because they thought I'm just a weak patient and may not be able to do anything. Totally insane! No official solution for good honest people. Even though Japanese citizens just fear, obey and suffer, because they have been educated to do so."
"When the law has any problem, why don't we just fix it?" Nalita asked. "What kind of reason can make you accept to keep suffering from something based on misinformation without any scientific evidence?"
Nalita Comes To The U.S. For Freedom; Now He Must Fight To Stay
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| Photo: Kenichi Nalita |
"Anyway, the only choice I have is just get out of the country where I was born and find somewhere safe, or give up," Kenichi told us. "So where should I go? I'm really trying hard to keep myself positive against this situation. If not, the reality is too retarded and too tired for me to live."
Since there are no medical marijuana dispensaries in Japan, Nalita decided to come to the United States. "Pretty simple -- there was no way for a patient to choose their own medication," he told Toke of the Town. "Is it my fault that I had no way to live healthily and legally, because I am Japanese? Should I just give up my life for pharmaceutical companies and greedy politics? I don't think so."
At first, Nalita was not able to come to the U.S. because he was still fighting his hashish case. "But after that, there is an order to treat us as innocent until the Supreme Court gives the final judgment," Nalita explained, "And I verified with my attorney that there is no problem doing what I planned."
"I think the best place in the world for medical cannabis patients might be California, without any doubt," Ken told us. "And I'm here writing this from San Francisco. But it doesn't mean I can stay here forever. I have to make 'something' happen to stay here.
"If not, I'll be forcibly sent back to Japan, no coming back," Nalita told us. "It's not a happy new year if it goes that way. Being stuck in Japan is for me same as a slow death."
"Some people say I should get married with an American citizen," Kenichi said. "I even tried the relationship for this. But I found out later that it doesn't work since I have a record for both cannabis and LSD, after the Supreme Court closes the case. Do you think I should give up my life because I used some psychoactive to handle myself?"
According to Nalita's new lawyer, who used to be an immigration judge, the only thing he can do now is try for asylum in the U.S. "Of course it will be denied at the end, if nothing has changed within those three and a half years, since the U.S. is still in the middle of the Drug War," he said.
"Or, I could just stay illegally and claim asylum after I get busted for overstaying," he said. "Either way, the final result will be getting forcibly sent back, if nothing happens."
Ken admitted to us that he feels "kinda desperate."
"But I think still there is a hope existing," he said. "Maybe the U.S. will accept me for asylum for a medicinal reason. Somehow. If it happens, I'm pretty sure that it would have a big impact on 'legalization' in this country, too."
"This is my only choice to live a normal life," Nalita told us.
That means you guys who are citizens of the United States are the only people who can save the life of this desperate Crohn's disease patient from a Far East country.
Ken told us if his case gets ignored, "then I just give up this shit. You know what I mean?"
"If not, then, it's time to change the whole world," Kenichi told us. "I think the world needs change. The whole world should be honest. And this case has the possibility to make that happen."
"To make this happen, we all really have to unite," Nalita said. "I know it's not easy, but I believe we can do this. Someone has to bet their life to do something. If it works, it means the federal government accepts medical cannabis."
"If you guys are with me, then I can bet my life," Nalita told us. "And that's the only thing left for me now."
24 comments
Comments
gypski said:
During the time that I spent in what is now a part of present day Japan, cannabis was readily available. And, a person could even by Preluden, a Swedish methamphetamine tab over the counter without a prescription 100+ tabs at a time. Two would ring your bell. I hope this guy wins either here or in Japan, especially if Japan was once culturally tied to cannabis.
Anonymous replied to gypski:
I've lived in Japan, Tokyo area for a while and it was (at least from 2007-2010) very rare.
It makes national news when high schoolers are found with it.
I dont know where you where, but that was not my experience of Japan.
frieandice said:
Great!!! Another foreigner trying to milk the American system. Send him back and hopefully he can put in some hard work and vote for marijuana reform in him home country. It's a shame that the editor of this website even entertains these nutjobs. Give me a break!!!
Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ replied to frieandice:
Gee, your human compassion is overwhelming.
This man is fighting for his life. Searching out the only thing that works is not the same as "milking the system."
baba replied to frieandice:
you need to put the crack pipe down.
Anonymous replied to frieandice:
You do realize that Japan has a socialized health care system that would pay for 70% of his treatment costs?
He is only in California because of the medical marijuana laws, which Japan does not have.
Anonymous replied to Anonymous:
You realize that just because they'll pay for 70% of the treatment doesn't mean he wants that treatment...
If you could have the government pay for 70% of a cocktail of drugs that stops some symptoms, adds new ones, and has a shopping list of side-effects, or you could pay 100% for something all natural that does no harm to your body and makes your life a million times better... which would you choose?
Just because you think one option is better or easier doesn't mean it's the best option for him.
Anonymous replied to frieandice:
fuck you, you stupid cracker.
whitestoner replied to Anonymous:
why so much hatred young one? i was in a car wreck in which i fractured EVERY vertabrae in my neck. vicoden doesnt help the pain without negative side effects...weed does
crafty777 said:
I know this guy. I mean, personally. I met him, sat down with him, talked with him several times. He's not trying to milk anything or take anything from anyone. He's trying to help himself and others stop suffering, and that's about it.
Japan isn't the same as America. Unless you've lived in Japan, you can't begin to understand all the differences. The government, the media...it doesn't allow for change and everyone is too scared to try to change it because they will be black balled. One mistake, one wrong word and you're out of that industry for good. Sending him back here might help someone else eventually, but for him it would lead to a lot of suffering and few results.
Ken has a serious uphill battle and deserves support. The waves he's starting could make some serious change, but it's going to take some serious time as well.
Give HIM a break.
Chris Reeve said:
Kenichi, if you're reading this, why don't you attend the next San Francisco Americans for Safe Access meeting? They oftentimes help bring patients and providers together. And although I've only been to one meeting so far, there are people there who may be able to direct you to attorneys who may be able to help you (?). It seems to me that you should be attending these meetings, which happen every other week.
Don't give up. Double-down. Get your story out there to every relevant newspaper and magazine, and you will find an attorney to help you pro bono.
Terrie Best said:
Great article Steve. Thanks once again for all you do!
Anon said:
Kenichi, if it comes to an emergency, go to Vancouver BC. There is a large Japanese population, so you can 'hide' easily and have some cultural comfort/familiarity, and you can make money 'off the grid' by being a trimmer in the HUGE marijuana industry there.
Yoda said:
Great stuff as always Steve. So nice to see the international human interest story, we have much to learn about how things are in a society like Japan.
I sure hope everything works out well for Ken.
frieandice is on iggy.
Dan
nedmorlef said:
i want an off grid trimmer job.
ilovemodok said:
Not a huge deal, but traditionally a Japanese "r/l" sound would be spelled with an "r" in roman characters. Making his name "Narita" (still sounds kinda like "Nalita" to the ear though). I think that bag he's showing shows his name spelled "Narita" too. Again, just a small thing I noticed while reading this GREAT article!
memememe said:
You've misspelled his name. It's Narita. Look at his ID in the first picture.
Please change this.
Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ replied to memememe:
His name is Nalita -- Ken tells me so.
They got his name wrong on the card.
DIddy said:
M for the movement. M for meritocracy. Tag it and keep moving. FIGHT THE DYNASTIC FAMILIES! Democracy has failed, like communism and fascism before it! It's time for a change. Death to those who hold mankind back from a higher being!
Edward V. said:
If the US rejects his plea he should come here to Canada, we have even more lax laws and would likely accept his bid, given our past history giving asylum of political refugees.
happy_ent said:
Wow. That's a crazy story. Imagine how many other people are experiencing the same for this and everything else like MS and migranes.
If you are reading this, please do know that rare court victories against the statute is generally, well, rare. I'm glad you're fighting this fight, because it really could lead somewhere!
If not, that is totally okay too -- the United States is not your last resort. Please try British Columbia, Canada or the Netherlands. Both would probably be more willing to grant residency than the United States.
I hope everything goes right, and thank you for fighting the good fight.
acidmac said:
There is international mail order marijuana based in Canada japanese tokers should look into zone420@live.ca amazing prices and 100% organic stuff, I order all the time.
Veen Reen said:
Sounds like a pretty cool dude to me. Id blaze with him anytime.
www.anon-tools.edu.tc
suzy said:
I tried ordering from zone420@live.ca from Tokyo and I have the tracking number but the package arrived in Japan a day late. It arrived non the less.