Gov't adds 17 drugs to controlled substances list

Is tobacco on the list? There's lot of people in hospital for smoking that stuff.

Well, what are they exactly??

Information is power. (and a way of not getting busted)

Japan Today

What's the point of telling us this if you don't tell us what the controlled substances are?

They have to hold a multitude of meetings b4 they can make a decision. I always say, Japanese LOVE to hold meetings!

I, too, would like to know what they are?

Next, basil will be added to the list. How about all mushrooms, because SOME varieties are... interesting? More Nanny-state nonsense.

They probably want to put the "herb" shops out of business. Maybe it works for a while, but the trouble is that there are millions of substances that can fry your brain... modify a few molecules, and voila a new substance.... and the varieties are endless.

Personally, I tend to think all drugs should be legalized, but at the same time there should be zero leniency if the users cause trouble.

REading Robertt Dykes post,

They should just legalize grass, demand will go way down for the legal dangerous stuff, and everyone will be happy.

how about bathsalts.

how about bathsalts.

What do you do, Oyayo206?

Smoke 'em?

Dangit, now I can't get my ST10375-04. It was such a wonderful high. And what will old man Taro do now that he can't sit outside the club and sell it?

For those who are unaware, the Japanese have quite a history of ingenuity when it comes to designer drugs. The idea is simple, when the gov't makes something like crystal meth illegal, someone makes a drug with an almost identical chemical composition, but that is slightly off, thereby circumventing the law. Pretty smart. What freaks me out is that you never know what is in the pill. It just comes in a little ziplock baggy and has a number like that above. It should also say "Use at your own risk", just to be explicit.

A link to this list would be nice

The very fact that they are called "loophole drugs" intimates that drugs should, by definition, be illegal before they are studied and categorized according to potential for abuse and toxicity, etc. It is the very notion that, as human beings, we don't have a right to put whatever we want into our own bodies. It's ludicrous but the generally accepted narrative is that "drugs are bad, m'kay?"

People need to realize that the only reason these harmful untested drugs are so frequently used is not because people are bored of street drugs. It's because they're worried about the illegality of street drugs.

In most people's experience, the worst thing that happens is getting arrested and that ruining their lives. Every gov't should just legalize drugs and increase the harm reduction. At the very least, it'd make them look less like hypocrites for selling harmful booze and smokes everywhere.

Did they include alcohol and tobacco? These cause thousands of deaths in Japan every year. Ah, no wait, these are not "evil drugs".

Just FYI these drugs called "analogs". They are referring to stuff like "spice" but it goes by many names now. They may include "bath salts" too but I am not sure if those have been sold in high quantities in Japan like the USA. Spice has gotten pretty widespread in paces like Tokyo where they interviewed high school kids who can buy the stuff from vending machines and other stores. You can google it to better understand but basiicly it a drug very simalar to marijuana. It is analog to THC that gets you high. The real danger of the stuff is that there are lots of analogs out there. They outlaw one, the street chemists create a new one. Who tests it? The random users who buy it do. Some of this stuff causes schizophrenic like episodes in people. Japan today is riddled with stories over the past few years of people basiicly having a short term break down while on the stuff and running over people or just freakng out in general. I read a lot of this stuff is outsourced to "chemists" in China for pennies. There is no regulation in the strength of the batch or if they even used the right chemicals or what. Its good that they are doing this, but the original spice from what I have read and heard was pretty much safe with little side effects compared to what they are frankenstiening in the labs today. My point is the make one analog illegal and 5 more popped up. The made those illegal and 20 more popped up. I have read the police in the EU have confiscated and tests 80 different kinds. I believe this is the 3rd or 4th time Japan has had pass a new lew to ban "spice" but the stores get new legal stuff that isn't banned with in a matter of months. With the advent of personal 3d printers within the next 10 to 20 years if not sooner. Anybody will be able to create designer drugs in their own home. They already have industrial 3d printers that can create simple coumpunds.

Lowly, that's exactly what I've been saying; Legalize real marijuana. It's safe, and has been used widely for many centuries. Banning the natural substance has only led to the development of truly dangerous synthetic substances. Why would anyone buy or use chemically created stuff if they could just grow their own? Homegrown tomatoes( or anything else) are always the best.

Dennis, just go shopping and ask what they are called.

mushrooms were available until 2002 (world cup). "legal drug" was all over central tokyo until '06/'07. there be a lot of catch up going on here. just don't expect it to make sense: subtract logic/reality from the mix and you'll be A-ok!!

In most people's experience, the worst thing that happens is getting arrested and that ruining their lives.

on the money..

As much as I did enjoy a smoke when I was younger the social problems it brings are terrible. The tough stance on drugs in Japan is possible toward society as a whole and less burden on the tax and health system. I understand alcohol is as much a problem but the tax collected and the industry regulation goes toward recovering the cost to society.