I have been following this guy’s case obsessively for twenty four hours now… and I’ve run out of shit to follow. It seems that nobody gives one single toke about this guy.

And yet, those among us who smoke cannabis, and who work towards one worldwide rotation, should be very concerned with this.

Kenichi Nalita suffers from Crohn’s disease, a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that happens when one’s immune system starts to get right pissed at one’s gastrointestinal tract. The immune system will start to attack the GI tract, resulting in inflammation.

In layman’s terms: You will have painful, fiery diarrhea… and, if the friction of fiery diarrhea is agitating enough to your inflamed GI walls, you may possibly crap out some of your own blood.

Crohn’s disease has no cure… however, luckily for us humans, there is a natural, harmless, and effective way of treating the disease and the symptoms. Diet and lifestyle change is part of it, but one of the better treatment options is… CANNABIS.

Science has taught us that cannabis is a natural analgesic/anti-inflammatory. This means that it uses your body’s own internal chemicals and regulating mechanisms to relax you, and it is also an excellent preemptive treatment for inflammation.

You can imagine what a big difference this makes to Kenichi Nalita’s quality of life. I leave a stool sample behind about once or twice a day, depending on my diet, and my stool is nice, soft, and lumpy. I consider the whole experience to be extremely satisfying, on the whole.

However, I might not speak so highly of the experience if it involved blood and the sensation that my sphincter was on fire. In fact, under such circumstances, I am fairly certain I would dread my trips to the restroom.

But, like a good medical doctor, Dr. Dre gives us the answer: Smoke weed everyday.

Nalita himself says in the tokeofthetown.com article,

“I’m a patient of Crohn’s disease. 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, and it’s even better, without any diet limitation and no severe side effects.”
This author will be the first to admit: I am a champion of cannabis legalization and regulation, mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with medical use. However, I can certainly empathize with a man whose options are:
A.) Constantly vomit and expel fiery, bloody feces, plus suffer bouts of abdominal pain.
B.) Seriously modify entire diet and lifestyle to mold them around NOT-crapping fire.
C.) Use cannabis to naturally activate endogenous cannabinoid receptors involved in a variety of natural bodily healing processes. (This is the “Smoke weed everyday” option)
As you can see, in Nalita’s case, it is hardly a matter of addiction to getting high. He, like many of us here in the United States, turned to an illegal drug market to take care of his medical needs.
However, also like the United States, there is the risk of running into cops and giving your life up to the whims of the legal system. That is exactly what happened to Kenichi; he was busted for possession of cannabis.
He tried to make the argument for medical use, but it is not even okay to talk about accepted medical use of cannabis in Japan. Ironically, the reason it is illegal in Japan is because of laws passed under Douglas MacArthur. In the wake of World War II, Douglas MacArthur, an American General and Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, was made interim leader of Japan from 1945 - 1948. In 1948, he drafted a new constitution for Japan along with several corollary laws. Apparently, one of these was Taima
Torishimaru Ho, the Cannabis Control Act. Under this law, there is no accepted medical use of cannabis, nor can there be any research into its potential medical use.
Naturally, under a legal framework like that, Kenichi encountered severe opposition to the notion that his cannabis use was medical. So, after checking with his lawyers that he was innocent until proven guilty, Kenichi came to California and sought out a medical cannabis recommendation through all of the proper channels. He even got a medical card from the very same Patient I.D. center that I got mine from in downtown Oakland.
Despite a 10 page letter from his recommending physician, and despite his own legitimate medical recommendation, the courts in Japan are having none of it. Soon, he will be made to go back to his country and suffer prison. For what? For refusing to crap blood.
I am sorry to be graphic, but I am trying to drive the point home that Kenichi’s life REALLY sucks without cannabis consumption. I am trying to show that, under the circumstances, we would all do the same thing. I can debate for-fucking-ever on the merits of smoking cannabis, but I’ll postpone those arguments now. The fact is, in a just, compassionate world, Kenichi Nalita should be allowed to smoke cannabis so that he doesn’t expel blood and feces violently from his rear. Period.

Since the full tokeofthetown article was published, I have not seen any other progress made. I hope he and his small coalition got in touch with San Francisco NORML. I am following their cause on facebook and so far… nothing.
Unfortunately, a seriously complicating factor in his arrest is the possession of LSD microdots in addition to cannabis. He himself acknowledges that this is a serious logisitical hurdle. As he says to tokeofthetown,
“I know, this is making things more complicated. 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.”
Not enough evidence exists for lore20 to either condemn or condone Nalita’s use of LSD. This particular author remains empathetic with his uses. Still, one of the most fundamental lessons of the drug war is thus: Keep your medications separate! Just like when you mix them, the effects are stronger… well, so are the consequences. But that is another post, for another time…

Unfortunately, the fact remains that many will not take his case seriously due to the LSD. If he gains asylum, it WILL be a huge step towards legalization, since the federal government will be openly acknowledging its medical use in a court case. Unfortunately, the LSD makes it all too easy to write him off as “just another druggie.”
Still — don’t give up hope! Write your congresspeople, spread the word to your friends/family/co-workers, and grow and smoke cannabis! Don’t let Kenichi’s fighting be in vain! You could be there too, someday!
Until then, we will keep growing, we will keep smoking, we will keep advocating. We are Cannanymous.