Japan criminalizes cannabis use as revised laws take effect

While the possession, transfer and cultivation of cannabis and THC were already banned in Japan, the new laws will designate them as narcotics and prohibit their use as well, setting a prison sentence of up to seven years for violation.

There should be no such thing as 'non-violent' drug offenses and criminalizing use.

The harm of various substances is what must be addressed, and the penalties against non-violent offenders are what cause the most harm.

LDP priorities.

More and more people will be arrested for victimless crime, such a waste of resource.

Now sit back and watch as potheads get more jail time for indulging in a natural herb while rapists and child abusers get a mere slap on the wrist. As usual, Japan focuses on the wrong priorities.

There are countries where possession and use of cannabis are decriminalized, the Netherlands for instance. If you’re not happy with Japan’s new cannabis law, move to one of those countries.

How pathetic

A severe law.

Japan has been saved from refer madness!

No more shall kids be getting intoxicated. Let's have a few Strong Zeros to celebrate.

Those advocating legalization should look properly at the results after 5 plus years in Canada.

The news and drug taking advocates that write the articles on the results try desperately to put a semi positive spin by pointing out a "reduction of criminal offices" well no kidding, it is now legal and only arrests are underaged users or illegal vendors.

Everything else it negative, higher rates of impaired driving, higher rates of ER visits, higher rates of cannabis related mental health disorders, higher rates of child cannabis related poisonings (up 20% in 5 years), etc...

And with all the health related issues increasing, impaired driving, not to mention working while high, the government MSM tries to candycoat the results by claiming " mixed results" using "97 per cent reduction in cannabis possession charges " as a positive side.

Use by 16 to 19 year olds in Canada is now at least 37% (I say at least because that is the number that admired to using which means many underage probably didn't answer honestly so the percentage is more likely higher).

You want to see what a country looks like with lenient drug laws and enforcement!

Go to Vancouver, Montreal Toronto and see the addicts on the streets harassing people for money try getting you coffee in the morning without being confronted by a strung out younth asking for money.

Along with the increase in drug use came a increase in HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases, while in other parts of the world the numbers are dropping.

We don't need any of that here.

If you’re not happy with Japan’s new cannabis law, move to one of those countries.

Most Japanese are unable to claim residency in The Netherlands, and even if they could, would be unable to speak Dutch. So I don't think that your suggestion is very helpful.

Although, it was intended to be a helpful suggestion, just a tired re-use of the insincere go-to "if you don't like X in Japan, why don't you leave?"

Cannabis consumption does not lead to hard drugs any more than beer and wine leading to strong alcohols. People have consumed cannabis for thousands of years.

I fully support these wise decisions.

No ganja in japan. The last thing japan needs is to b a country of dope heads like America.

The Japanese government wants to prosecute Japanese people who use marijuana even if they use it outside of Japan in a country where it is legal. Guam for example is a popular Japanese holiday destination where it is legal to process up to 28 grams. Think about that for one minute. Imagine somebody visiting Japan from a country where alcohol is illegal and then they are imprisoned on their return because the authorities find evidence they had been drinking sake while in Japan. Well that is what a country looks like when you have no human rights. If you don’t have sovereignty over your own body and can’t choose what food you eat, what you drink, which medicines you take and which recreational drugs you use, even if you are outside of Japan (even if you don’t live in Japan but have a Japanese passport) then you don’t have any human rights. The ones you are told you have are just pretend. Marijuana products are becoming more and more common in many countries all over the world. Do you really believe someone should go to prison because they ate a marijuana pizza while they were on holiday in Thailand or drank a THC infused drink in America?

People have consumed cannabis for thousands of years.

So that means what?

People used lead as a sweetener, arsenic in medication and skin products for thousands of years, do we still do those things?

We were once told not only was Tobacco safe it was beneficial, oops the then experts were wrong.

We were told that Cannabis was not dangerous to smoke and was not like tobacco with regards to cancer, now we are told "oops maybe that was wrong,"

Canadian Cancer society:

Cannabis smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing substances as tobacco smoke. And people who smoke cannabis tend to inhale more smoke per puff and hold it in their lungs for longer than people who smoke tobacco cigarettes.

We were told not a problem for the heart!

Now:

Frequent cannabis smoking may significantly increase a person's risk for heart attack and stroke, according to an observational study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The problem is the fake information taken as fact most of it created before legalization be advocates if cannabis use based on zero or little factual evidence.

Now with more places having legalized marijuana we are now seeing actual science based studies and real world results, and like tobacco, etc... the facts do not match the hype!

Look online and you will find sites with official sounding names claiming how cannabis helps with mental health.

But then go to health Canada, NIH, CDC, NHS and see the actual results of studies.

Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use

And this is becoming more and more apparent as the use increases and people openly tell their health providers they are using cannabis and how often.

All previous claims of health benefits came from tiny and often clandestine studies or just opinions.

Now with legalization actually studies are starting to show very different results.

I will not be surprised that in 20 years we will be seeing a similar campaign about cannabis use as we are seeing today with tobacco and tobacco products use.

smoking dopes makes you stupid.

@Peter Neil

smoking dopes makes you stupid.

Steve jobs seemed pretty smart

Cannabis can be consumed without smoking it. Millions are getting medical relief from cannabis.

I blame J Edgar Hoover and his hatred of blacks and hispanics.

All pot prohibitions flow from that period in the USA, who influenced world bodies to follow suit.

"Chasing the Scream " is a good historical account from Hoover }who abused amphetamine} to the present.

Cant wait to get back to Oz and light up a fattie !!!

yes.make zero drugs policy.

Do your part and spread mariuanna seeds around parks and public building gardens.

*Marijuana seeds

Johnny Reefer Seed

The key point in all of this is the "Criminalization" of usage/possession.

That is the arrest and incarceration for years - of even casual users, resulting in a life time criminal stigma, for what in reality may well be about as minor a crime as one can get.

No one is talking about "Legalization" as some posters seem to indicate.

In a decriminalized situation, you can still have penalties in place for infringements like a traffic fine, but taking the heavy hand and slapping users - many young - with an on record social pariah status won't serve anyone's interests.

And it seems that the old furphy that marijuana is a Gateway drug is still alive and active. The idea that a user will become dependent and require a "heavier" drug to get the same high is just nonsense.

If a survey was done I'm sure most/many marijuana users drink coffee. Could caffeine be a "Gateway" drug?

Any use of harder drugs will mostly be from social association and introduction - not from a craving.

The govt by trying to legislate it's way around this to "solve" the problem will not be successful. In the dynamics of an ever changing 21stC, casual use will not go away or decrease.

Better to spend time and resources on seeking out real dangers like heroin, coke, fentanyl, meth etc.

The Japanese "No"-Mask of democracy slips further as Reefer Madness takes hold. Cannabis legislation won't be loosened until the sons and daughters of the elite and legislators themselves are caught with spliffs and face prison time.

I’m here in Florida burning my legal Medical Amount of about 80g a month, and life is still going on as usual

Cannabis "abuse" is less dangerous than "normal" alcohol consumption. And if cannabis "abuse" among young people is such a worry, then address the main cause (widening economic and social class disparities in society and resulting anxiety about the future) rather then criminalizing the symptoms. Cannabis is less addictive than alcohol, anyway.

If you only do it once in a while, modern dope is super strong and really trippy. The potential mental harm is much higher than 1980s dope. Modern dope is closer to a hallucigen like LSD. Its not just a mild buzz and your records sounding better.

Regardless of potential harm from the emergence of stronger and trippier dope, criminalizing someone for taking a toke on a joint being passed around or taking a bite of space cake is draconian.

Excessive cannabis use has been linked to an increased risk of schizophrenia, particularly in teens and young adults. I had a couple of teen friends that went cockoo for smoking it all the time. Good for you, Japan.

Cannabis consumption does not lead to hard drugs any more than beer and wine leading to strong alcohols.

Tell that to Elton John who was just interviewed and was the least likely celebrity to tell the world what a big mistake it was to legalize cannabis in the USA and Europe due to the addictive nature of the drug. Elton John was a "pothead" and believes to this day that recreational use of the drug opened the floodgates to the harder drugs that people die from.

A 2019 survey found that 1.8 percent of people in Japan had used marijuana at least once in their lifetime, compared to 44.2 percent of Americans and 41.5 percent of Canadians, while a 2018 survey by the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry  found that 1.4 percent of people in Japan aged 15 to 64 (or 1.33 million people) had used marijuana. The total value of the cannabis market in Japan was estimated at ¥24 billion (US$218.68 million) in 2023.

Read the numbers -1.33 million Japanese have tried marijuana according to official estimations. I have no idea if the real number is higher or lower but if we presume these numbers are correct. What percentage of the 1.33 million does the government think it can imprison? Even 1 percent? Many Japanese people love marijuana and use it regularly. If you think Japan is marijuana free then you don’t live here or you live a very isolated life. I was sitting 10 meters from the Koban a few weeks ago in Omotesando when two young Japanese guys sat down next to me and sparked up a joint. It is very common here, it is just that most people hide their use of it more than the two guys I just mentioned due to the severe penalties for possession that already existed before this new change in the law.

It seem over the top when you compare Jonny Somali 3 months for his abuse. I don,t part take in smoking the herb in Japan which was legal before 1946 and enos of history regarding it use deem it safe to use then suddenly get classed dangerous by new science of the USA allowing Duponts products to replace the massive trade in maritime hemp products in Asia like sails and rigging.

meiyouwrnenti- your point is well made about leaving the kitchen if you don’t like the heat, but I’d say that to judge from the complaints I read daily in these comments it will lead to Japan being completely devoid of people.

I don’t like drugs, I think they are horrid. When young saw people I know in U.K. get into that lark and change and always for the worse. I think it’s alright for licensed medical use if proven to work but not for people to experiment with, it’s too dangerous you see.

i have no issues about legalizing it.

Steve jobs seemed pretty smart

he quit in 1977 because it was making him stupid.

"accidentally absorb".

Countries that have legalized recreational use of cannabis are Canada, Georgia, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay, plus 24 states, 3 territories, and the District of Columbia in the United States and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia.

Keepitreal

Today 09:04 am JST

@Peter Neil

> smoking dopes makes you stupid.

> Steve jobs seemed pretty smart

Really? The man had cancer and instead of going for actual medical treatment he fell for quackery and only realised it when it was too late to get proper medical treatment.

I keep hearing this the claim that cannabis leads to harder drugs has been "debunked".

But most studies were very superficial, done when few people would admit to taking illegal drugs including cannabis.

This may not be a scientific study, but sadly I knew a lot of people that became drug addicts and most died from drugs or HIV/AIDS (yes back in the 80s).

I have never known a single drug addict that started with cocaine, heroin, etc...

No they all started with cannabis and when they got to the point of daily use and that wasn't enough, that was when harder drugs started to creep into their lives.

And you will find this is pretty much a universal situation.

I have never seen alcohol straight to hard drugs either, if alcohol is involved it goes like this, alcohol, cannabis, heroin/cocaine (today include meth) but in all cases cannabis comes before the hard stuff.

Keep that disgusting garbage out of this country. Well done on this!

AntiquesavingToday  08:01 am JST

Those advocating legalization should look properly at the results after 5 plus years in Canada.

The news and drug taking advocates that write the articles on the results try desperately to put a semi positive spin by pointing out a "reduction of criminal offices" well no kidding, it is now legal and only arrests are underaged users or illegal vendors.

Everything else it negative, higher rates of impaired driving, higher rates of ER visits, higher rates of cannabis related mental health disorders, higher rates of child cannabis related poisonings (up 20% in 5 years), etc...

And with all the health related issues increasing, impaired driving, not to mention working while high, the government MSM tries to candycoat the results by claiming " mixed results" using "97 per cent reduction in cannabis possession charges " as a positive side.

Use by 16 to 19 year olds in Canada is now at least 37% (I say at least because that is the number that admired to using which means many underage probably didn't answer honestly so the percentage is more likely higher).

You want to see what a country looks like with lenient drug laws and enforcement!

Go to Vancouver, Montreal Toronto and see the addicts on the streets harassing people for money try getting you coffee in the morning without being confronted by a strung out younth asking for money.

Along with the increase in drug use came a increase in HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases, while in other parts of the world the numbers are dropping.

We don't need any of that here.

I wanted to do fact-checking on this poster's unsubstantiated claims since there are no sources. From 27% in 2018 to 18% in 2024 (with 2024 rising from 15% in 2023). Use by 16 to 19 year old is 27% within 30 days etc. etc.

From the Canadian government - https://health-infobase.canada.ca/cannabis

As for addicts harassing people on the street, you will find people strung out in any North American city, whether marijuana is legal or not. Marijuana has its negatives, but please be responsible and don't equate the opioid epidemic with marijuana.

Let look at facts we now know vs claims made.

"Cannabis is safer than smoking tobacco"

"Cannabinoid actually protect against cancer"

These have been repeated over and over again including here by some posters.

Now we know based on actual science, neither claim was true!

"Cannabis isn't addictive"

And again actual science has debunked that claim.

I claim based of a very narrow definition of addictive where they would use chemical dependency as the only definition.

Reality:

Health Canada:

Contrary to popular belief, people can become addicted to cannabis. Continued, frequent and heavy cannabis use can cause physical dependency and addiction. Some people can develop tolerance to the effects of cannabis. Tolerance is characterized by a need for larger doses of a drug to maintain the same effects.

" Cannabis is safe and has no long term effects"

Again actual science says this is false.

Now we know in teen and young adults cannabis use can increase the possibility of psychosis and schizophrenia.

" Cannabis doesn't impair your abilities like alcohol or hard drugs"

Well again:

Health Canada 2023.

Impairment can last for more than 24 hours after cannabis use, well after other effects may have faded. The THC in cannabis can impair your ability to drive safely and operate equipment. It can also increase the risk of falls and other accidents.

So what is the next claim by cannabis users and advocates to fall?

If you only do it once in a while, modern dope is super strong and really trippy. The potential mental harm is much higher than 1980s dope. Modern dope is closer to a hallucigen like LSD. Its not just a mild buzz

Yea modern weed is no joke should not be taken lightly.

Could lead to some critical insights about yourself and your surroundings but could just as easily lead to psychosis.

Addicts were long on the streets before any country/place legalized cannabis.

good, we do not need this in Japan

So are the authorities going to be waiting to do blood tests on Japanese citizens returning from their vacations in Thailand? I wonder if the law applies to cannabis use "outside" of Japan or just inside the country. I guess technically if the THC is in your blood, you could be found guilty.

Potentially, someone could smoke weed or eat some edibles on or before their flight back to Japan, then get in their car at Narita and drive home and possibly cause an accident. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Dope causes brain damage, more so the super potent varieties normal today.

It’s no accident ardent “progressives” are usually pot smokers.

Elton John said it was stupid to legalize marijuana in Canada and in the US, it's addictive, many times 'addicted ones' will upgrade to meth, cocaine, heroine, some will die, many will give all their money to the yakuza, ruin other people's lives.

People who don't agree with me, open your eyes, it's true, fact proven. Japan needs to stop it before it reaches levels like in the US, Canada.

The Japanese government wants to prosecute Japanese people who use marijuana even if they use it outside of Japan in a country where it is legal

Where did you read such thing? I have a friend that did consume something and was sniffed by the narita airport dog when he returned back, the smell was in his clothes or his body but he did not bring it with him, they asked him, he replied that he consumed, he was not in possession so they didn't arrest or press charges against him.

Roll up, wait a minute, Let me put some kush up in it.

Its a persons choice. I am sorry but something that springs up from the ground. Water, Soil, Sunlight.

Should not be illegal.

Have a beer. Or run to Taco Bell at 2am. Or moss burger. Yum Yum....

Addicts were long on the streets before any country/place legalized cannabis.

Powerful! Who can argue with that? Very true.

I have never known a single drug addict that started with cocaine, heroin, etc...

Um, I do. A few that ended up in death, jails or mental institutions.

Lindsy Lohan was a serious addict. Never used weed. Went from cocktails to the coke and H.

@Pocket monster. That is the point. They couldn’t do anything to him before, especially if he was Japanese because it wasn’t a crime to use marijuana. It was a crime to possess it, transport it etc but it wasn’t a crime to have used it. It is now as of this week so your friend would be arrested and drug tested. THC is stored in the fat cells of human beings so is detectable for about a month after using it using standard drug testing the last time I checked. If your friend was a foreigner they could have refused him entry to Japan which is what happened to a friend of mine because they found a box which had traces of marijuana in it. Basically they could just smell it but if he was Japanese nothing would have happened to him. Now he could face prison time. Japanese embassies are putting up posters warning Japanese people not to break Japanese law and consume marijuana overseas. How this stands up in court remains to be seen but you will need a lot of money, a good lawyer and probably still spend a long time behind bars while you are waiting to go to trial. If you are a foreigner or Japanese and you consumed the marijuana in Japan you are going to prison. If you are a foreigner and you consumed the marijuana outside of Japan you might get off with a good lawyer. If you are Japanese you will probably end up in prison.

More importantly

The revised laws also legalize medical products using substances derived from cannabis that have been proven effective and safe.

Japan is free to make it's own decision about this, and those who don't like it will just have to suck it up, no pun intended.

Don't try to impose your value system on others, if you want to get whacked, go and do it somewhere else, there's no shortage of them.

I like that Japan has a firm stance on this, and I've smoked plenty of weed in my time.

Antiquesaving: I don't agree with you. I known of a lot of herion users did not used pot prior. Where I grow up during the 80's the supplier, a group of illegal Italian immigrants growers in the Riverina got busted so it took years before any supplies of pot and very little. So it was none existent and the price went from $30 to $300 in a year. Heroin was readly available and cheaper and a 4 fold increase of heroin addiction was recorded during these dry years of pot in my area of Sydney. What was their choice of drug before heroin it was alcohol. So no Pot smoking does not lead to harder drug. It is the person personal mental state leads to substance abuse. just like alcoholism.

It's not a drug. It grows naturally all over the world. It's no more a 'drug' then a tomato.

Matt

Today 06:26 pm JST

It's not a drug. It grows naturally all over the world. It's no more a 'drug' then a tomato.

Then using that logic, heroin and cocaine are not drugs either because they also "grow" around the world.

Pot law? another backward step for Japan. Japan Tobacco had this government in their back pocket and laws around the world against pot is mostly from large tabacco companies who want to control the smoking market with cheap products and added chemicals to give everyone cancer. While the rest of the 1st world countries free up money and earn taxes Japan adds to their criminal justice system. Does Japan want to be like America and lick up 1 in 5 of its citizens?

Japanese Doctors will prescribe anything, even if you don’t need it, if you specifically ask them to. Sounds like this will make it easier for people to get their hands on cannabis derived drugs… hopefully with THC;) Stoned people would be so much easier to deal with than the drunks everywhere on any given night in Japan!

The Party Pooper party strikes again!

"It's no more a 'drug' then[sic] a tomato."

THEN a tomato? Then perhaps we should acquiesce to the obvious expert...

Pregnant women should not use cannabis.

Well I predict that the rise of synthetic cannabis will rise aka thch and thco and others of the like which maybe even worse than THC. Also drugs that can't be easily tested like LSD will become more popular. Bottom line is humans like to get inebriated in some from or another. Ban on thing a new thing will pop up and so on and so forth. On a side not could you imagine the back lash if they passed a similar law about alcohol?

I’d rather see group dancing criminalized, but yeah, protect the kids from themselves is a worthy goal.

I belong to the generation that came to regard smoking dope as somehow evidence of intellectual and moral superiority. My guess is that many of the commentators here, i.e. those who give thumbs-down to anyone who dares to suggest (rightly) that getting stoned is stupid, have inherited the same misguided mentality. (I'll check later to see whether I wind up getting similarly treated.)

The topic is weed. My opinion is that this is the wrong move. It will lead to hundreds of billions of yen spent on putting kids in jail. The war on drugs in the US failed and it will fail in Japan too.

While the possession, transfer and cultivation of cannabis and THC were already banned in Japan, the new laws will designate them as narcotics and prohibit their use as well, setting a prison sentence of up to seven years for violation.

Good for you Japan, take a hard stance against weed and all its evils!!

The revised laws also legalize medical products using substances derived from cannabis that have been proven effective and safe.

Um, does this mean that weed has proven medical benefits???

Go figure.

Just listen to Elton John.

Elton John was a cocaine addict for decades.