The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 06, 1979, Page Page 13, Image 13
Reefei
By K. P. Hong
Associated Prsss Wrttsr
TOKYO ? An organization
called the Clear Light Society ? in
what is believed to be the first
m n\;p nf Ihic Irinrl nf Aoin if
??v?v vta viuu niiiu vi noia is
planning a symposium to urge the
legalization of marijuana in Japan.
The society, with about 300
members, has scheduled the
symposium for June 5 to point up
what it complains are harsh laws
against marijuana use here and in
other parts of Asia.
THE LAWS provide a maximum
death penalty in Malaysia, South "
Korea and the Philippines;
maximum life imprisonment in
Hong Kong; 30 years and 15
strokes of the cane in Singapore;
seven years imprisonment in
japan ana tnree years' imprisonment
in India.
Koh Akutagawa, 45, who heads
the Clear Light Society, said, "The
law, we believe, violates civil
liberties and is as unconstitutional
as the ban on alcohol in some
places in the old days."
Akutagawa is a prominent
Oriental-style painter and a
defendant in a marijuana case. He
said in an interview that many
doctors and research groups, including
the U.S. National Institute
on Drug Abuse, NIDA, have held
that marijuana is not an addictive
drug.
One recent NIDA report was
reported to have said, however, it
did not regard marijuana as
harmless.
MANY WESTERN countries, he
said, today pursue a policy that
possession and use of marijuana
should no longer be against the
law.
"Our movement isn't intended to
encourage people to smoke hemp
because we like it," Akutagawa
said. "We just want to see the law
revised so Uiat citizens can decide
whether to use it as in the case of
alcohol."
A metropolitan police official
said the Clear Light members "are
free to meet and speak." Japanese
judicial officials declined comment
on the constitutionality of
Japan's 31-year-old marijuana law
established at the request from the
thpn I I .Q rwr>iirvo Hnn
In the symposium, the two-yearold
society will bring together a
dozen or so lawyers, doctors,
medical researchers, writers and
others, Akutagawa said.
Akutagawa's indictment in 1977
for smoking hemp which he grew
in his yard led to the organization
of the Clear Light Society in Kyoto.
I "lHwratkwi I
of Honey Doll Jones I
Double Exposure
of Holly
ATLANTIC II f
Captain Lust
Ladv Defila
Society urg<
* madn
He remains free pending a final
ruling by the Kyoto District Court
expected late this year.
"I have two boys, the vouncer a
19-year-old high school graduate.
Having smoked marijuana for the
past several years, I let them
smoke it, but ask them to refrain
from drinking," he said.
Koichi Tamura, one of the
defense attorneys for Akutagawa
and legal adviser to Clear Light,
said Asian nations, except perhaps
India where cannabis was banned
under British rule, all "copied"
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money, too. Like!
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the United States
only parachute dr
Great American!
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Main Gate only. Not
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marijuana laws of weste
countries after World War II.
THESE NATIONS, as was t
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vaoc wiLii uapan, sKippea any d
studies or researches
establishing the marijuana law
he said.
"Until then, many Asian peopl
had long been free in growing, ai
some of them smoking, hen
which was, and still is, a materi
for the rope and fabric fiber i
dustry for many centuries."
In Japan, fewer than 4,0
persons have been caught growin
nsvy
1 SIX
LJCAP
FOR A
you present the coupon
i Six Flags ticket window
r $1.75 off the regular
s you get into the Land c
ams for only $7.50! An<
be a Math major to
tty good deal.
;ood deal of fun for your
Six Flags' incredible
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Scream Machine, the
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redeemed with $7.50 for a
i ticket to Six Flags Over
nt. UAXXJ Ui
24,25, r?M
The Land of Sen
:ioniil $7.50 tickets available
Park o|x4as at
i legalizat
nceri
rn smoking or trafl
marijuana in the pas
he Police said they didn'
ue figures but that m
in defendants were rel
being "admonished"
suspended sentences.
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nd They said stricter pi
up up to seven years be
al enforced for illegal cu
n- trafficking.
00 in India, rnarijuan;
g? licensed shops in some
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grass to hard rc
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So don't be sur|
j friends come al
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31, and April 1, 7One
coupon per p
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cdin? ?iiiu iTreains
at the Russell I louse 1
10 a.m. each day.
^ ? mb mm mm mm m
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is Asi
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t six years. state to state
; have exact itinerant Hindu
any of the "sadhus," an
eased after religious festiv;
or given
In some India
smoker can g<
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Itivation and get marijuana
Hpalpr Mariiim
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four states, bu
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riety of musical entert;
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ay, additional tickets at
y on the dates shown,
campus ticket oudet b<
>rised if a lot of your
3ng for the ride, too. A
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5,21, 22, 28 and 29,19"
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ravel Center.
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in states, a regular
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permitting him to
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