China’s Marijuana Surprise

China’s Marijuana Surprise

Despite a long anti-drug crusade, Beijing is positioned to be a major player in the cannabis market.

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An economic stir is happening in China, but it’s in an industry you might not expect. With more than half of the 600 relevant patents filed with the World Intellectual Property Office now owned by Chinese companies, the country is well positioned to dominate the global cannabis market. Which is very surprising for a nation where drug trafficking is still punishable by death and mere possession of the substance can result in a lengthy spell behind bars.

Chinese investment in the cannabis market could not be more perfectly timed, as countries like the U.S. and Uruguay begin to experiment with decriminalization. Medical marijuana research has surged over the last decade as medicine and finance have coalesced to legitimize the business of cannabis. The fervor for the war on drugs that has for decades driven the policies and public opinion on marijuana decriminalization is slowly fading. In the U.S., where cannabis is nowlegal in four states, the rhetoric is moving away from issues like crime and security, to more progressive discussions on race, mass incarceration, and personal freedom.

Meanwhile, there is another emerging dimension: Western medicine is beginning to take more seriously the tradition and techniques of alternative medicine popularized by China. Part of this tradition is cannabis, which has been used to treat illnesses ranging from depression to constipation.

China is uniquely poised to take advantage of cannabis production because of its strong patent control and the fact that its production of pharmaceuticals is surpassing the West. As Dr. Luc Dechesne states: “Because cannabis in Western medicine is becoming accepted, the predominance of Chinese patents suggests that pharmaceutical sciences are evolving quickly in China, outpacing Western capabilities.” China is already one of the leading exporters of hemp and is well positioned to benefit from any future boom in cannabis.

Except for one significant obstacle: The current administration of President Xi Jinping shows no sign of relenting on its anti-corruption crusade, which encompasses social ills such as prostitution and drug use. Xi has been dogged in his attempt to shore up his image as a no-nonsense law-and-order leader. He has doubled down in recent months, ordering police to conduct widespread and high-profile crackdowns. The latest casualties in his war on drugs even include the arrests and blacklisting of celebrities like Ko Chen-tung and Fang Zuming (better known as Jackie Chan’s son), whose legal troubles have only brought more attention to the issue.

In fact, one need not have more than a cursory understanding of China’s history to find a reason for its reflexive rejection of progressive drug policy. The idea of others, or more specifically the West, peddling the medicinal benefits and economic opportunities of cannabis recalls an unsettling time in Chinese history: the mid-19th century Opium Wars between China and the U.K. The Chinese government responded with the traditional approach to drug control: criminalization, surveillance, and punishment.

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http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/chinas-marijuana-surprise/

Very interesting article.. thanks for posting this.

[warning: lots of blanket statements ahead, made for convenience.]

Wow, I didn't have any idea about this.

I regularly found cannabis / hemp growing wild in China, and a few times a managed to "borrow" some flowers from a mature plant

I also found out that the Uighur people smoke hash, and learned their (secret?) hand sign for cannabis, which worked beautifully when I tried it, leading to me purchasing some pretty good hash for very little money.

But considering most Chinese people today don't seem to know what cannabis is, or that it can be used as a drug (based on my experience being seen taking the flowers from a large plant, which I explaned to everyone who had come to watch me - being a foreigner - we used for medicine in my counttry), I was a bit surprised to read this article.

Also not too thrilled that Chinese businesses or the gov. own so many important patents relating to cannabis. Will they allow poor, sick people to use their technology for medicine, or will they demand or create high prices in order to profit? Mostly the latter, I would guess. Nothing against Chinese people in general, but they tend to be great buisness people, which includes a strong motivation to make money, often even at the cost of human suffering.

Except for one significant obstacle: The current administration of President Xi Jinping shows no sign of relenting on its anti-corruption crusade, which encompasses social ills such as prostitution and drug use.

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I find it funny that most RC's are from China.
Seems the laws are brutal, but at the same time, lax?

Or is it OK, so long as the product is exported and not sold/used internally. (In China, or in Chinese people)

Same with other things too, the melamine fiasco, BPA laden teething rings, all for export.
Is what is bad for us, OK with them, as long as it's us and not them?

China is one weird ass country!

i guess they see their chance to learn from what the british did to them with opium. i wouldn't be surprised if they spring up a huge cannabis industry exclusively exporting to the west, earning them lots of money (and making the westerners lazy ), while domestic use would still be a crime.

Sounds like a good way to fuck the western pharma cartel.

I wouldn't trust the quality of mass-produced Chinese marijuana. If I know that country at all from the half a year I spent there, it would be grown in huge quantities in enormous warehouses hydroponically under LED lights. Of greatest concern to me, in order to turn over as many crops in as little time as possible, I don't see Chinese indoor growers flushing the nutes out of their plants before harvesting, and seldom cleaning the tanks or replacing the hoses. I also picture them using quick-and-dirty drying techniques, and no real curing to speak of.

Especially if this industry were grey or black market in China, I'm pretty sure the Golden Laughing Money God would not smite down upon growers who put artificial colorings and flavors to the nutrient tanks either. This could open the door to strain counterfeiting, too. Why pay for a pack of Sensi Seeds Original Jack Herrer, when a set of cuttings off the Big Bud mother, fed a certain combination of additives for looks and smell, produced an ersatz copy that your average American burned-out stoner, who seldom encountered the real McCoy, couldn't tell apart?

China is funny when it comes to marijuana. The ethnic Han majority strongly associate this drug with the looked-down-upon Uyghur minority, and other uncivilized indigenous peoples of the country's southwest. About 1% of them use it, though, and are damn quiet about it. Penalties for it are harsh, but unlike in much of the rest of Asia, the cops and the citizens aren't looking to bust Western foreigners with it, and you'll only get nailed with it if you're incredibly street-stupid.

The Chinese have a negative attitude towards drugs in general because of all that opium wars business.

Good article and a good magazine thanks for the info.

Slimvictor I am very curious what the quality of the buds you found growing in the wild in China was like. I can't imagine it would of been incredibly potent, but it seems likely it would have been an interesting smoke which would be quite different to the average weed one would encounter that has generally been bred and grown for commercial purposes.

MyDoorsAreOpen said:

I wouldn't trust the quality of mass-produced Chinese marijuana. If I know that country at all from the half a year I spent there, it would be grown in huge quantities in enormous warehouses hydroponically under LED lights.

Especially if this industry were grey or black market in China, I'm pretty sure the Golden Laughing Money God would not smite down upon growers who put artificial colorings and flavors to the nutrient tanks either. This could open the door to strain counterfeiting, too. Why pay for a pack of Sensi Seeds Original Jack Herrer, when a set of cuttings off the Big Bud mother, fed a certain combination of additives for looks and smell, produced an ersatz copy that your average American burned-out stoner, who seldom encountered the real McCoy, couldn't tell apart?

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Most weed is grown in warehouses under LED's now. Good growers can grow better weed under LED's, it's the future.
I do agree that Chinese nationals in other parts of the world grow some garbage weed. The Chinese cut corners on everything, their pills are inactive, their clothes fall apart, and their weed is often poorly flushed. I avoid Asian crime syndicate weed in Canada, it's almost always really terrible. It exists only because in the world of weed someone somewhere will buy it eventually. There is a market for weed no matter how bad it is.
As for "strain counterfeiting", that's been going on all over for a while. Any Dutch strain I can find cheap Canadian knock off. That is never going to stop. I actually disagree with patents on weed strains anyway, it's too Monsanto. If I sell someone two rare dogs can I claim they don't have the right to breed them? If you don't want you genetics spreading keep them to yourself.

If you are in the U.S., most of your MDMA is coming from Chinese crime syndicates in Canada.