Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: 綠色浪潮 x 台灣草協/Facebook
CANNABIS DECRIMINALIZATION ADVOCATES held a rally on April 18th in Taipei, calling for an end to what they termed a “war” on cannabis. The rally was held outside of the Legislative Yuan, as the eighth edition of the now-annual “Green Sensation” festival.
The organizer of the rally was the Taiwan Weed Safety Education Association, which is a legally recognized association, with a convenor of the event being Zoe Lee, former Green Party co-chair and human rights lawyer. The rally involved speeches, musical performances, and had booths set up by various vendors and organizations. The parade route for the event was relatively short, but took participants around the area.
In particular, cannabis decriminalization advocates argued that cannabis is not a drug. International comparisons to the US were made, in that the US no longer treats cannabis as a drug. Nor do some European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, and Malta, which have decriminalized cannabis, as has neighboring Thailand.
By contrast, Taiwan has maintained a “zero tolerance” approach to cannabis. Participants highlighted cases of individuals receiving sentences of more than a decade for selling cannabis, as in a recent case of an office worker who faces ten years and four months in jail for selling 95 grams of cannabis for 65,000 NT in a convenience store. Police wiretapped this individual in order to apprehend him. Other recent cases include a terminally ill cancer patient who was arrested for the use of cannabis to relieve pain. As such, one of the demands of protesters was to increase current THC limits to 0.3, so as to allow for treatment for patients.
Notably, calls for the rally also suggested that cannabis decriminalization advocates could not fall into an “echo chamber,” but would have to engage in dialogue more with society. Polling shows that 90% of Taiwanese society is opposed to decriminalization, as a result of which it is not expected that Taiwan will move on the issue anytime soon, in spite of the fact that progressive political parties such as the Green Party back decriminalization.
Taiwan has frequently sought to tout a progressive political image abroad. By contrast, when it comes to cannabis, political figures frequently tout Taiwan’s harsh measures against drugs with a great degree of publicity, as observed in frequent images released by the police of senior politicians inspecting confiscated items during drug busts. To this extent, police regularly shut down nightlife establishments for spot inspections to check for drugs.
With many Taiwanese citizens traveling to Thailand to use cannabis after its decriminalization, the Taiwanese government has sought to assert that it would be within its rights to prosecute Taiwanese for using cannabis abroad. This led to the Ministry of Justice seeming to take the view in 2023 that advocating for the decriminalization of cannabis would constitute incitement to use drugs, something that would lead to charges.
Such a stance raised free speech concerns among activists at the time. After all, apart from violating basic freedoms regarding free speech and political advocacy, the Ministry of Justice seemed to be suggesting that it would be within its rights to target activists. Part of the suggestion would be that the Ministry of Justice might pursue depictions of cannabis usage in the media, such as by artists or in music videos, under the grounds that this is inciting cannabis usage. In order to draw attention to the issue, at the time, in jest, Lee filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk for being a proponent of cannabis usage.
Indeed, it does not seem likely that Taiwan will shift positions on cannabis usage anytime soon. However, it is also clear that activism on the issue is here to stay, with 420 rallies to call for the decriminalization of cannabis now occurring annually.