Japan’s parliament has passed a bill to legalize medical products using substances derived from cannabis while closing a loophole in existing prohibitions against the drug by criminalizing its use, reports The Japan Times.

Cannabis-derived medicines are currently only approved in clinical trials in Japan, but patient groups have called for access to cannabis-derived cannabidiol medicines, which are already approved in Europe and the United States for conditions such as severe epilepsy.
Under the revised laws, which will come into force within a year from promulgation, cannabis and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are designated as narcotics to be regulated.
Through the changes, there will be two kinds of licenses for growing cannabis, with one for those who grow it to make medicines and another for other purposes such as hemp, the report said.

The legal changes associated with cultivation will come into force two years after the announcement.