Student arrested for allegedly smuggling cannabis in hotdog buns

She brought marijuana into Japan and could face more jail time than the criminals at TEPCO will serve combined for contaminating an entire ecosystem and poisoning its own people.

How's that war on drugs going? Arrested for 0.97 grams? Bet the police are so proud of themselves having arrested an international drug smuggler. Easier cheeper than arresting a woman living quietly on an island I guess.

She was quoted by the police as saying, "I didn't mean to smuggle it. I just forgot about it.

She IS lucky that she got caught here and not in China or some other transit country in SE Asia.

Heard of people using buns to smuggle, but not of the hot dog variety.

just forgot that I'd put it inside some buns and wrapped them in pastic bags, and packed the hotdog buns in my luggage because they're, um, not available in Japan? she'd be better off using the "I was drunk and don't remember" gambit….

in any case… less than a gram? "SOME of which was sandwiched in hotdog buns in plastic bags… and "arrested the next day"? weird story all round

buffaloToday  07:18 am JST

sir_bentley28Today  09:00 am JST

Its likely she was detained and questioned extensively, and the formality of arrest was the next day.

Lots of small-picture people posting today.

And one small-minded one.

Marijuana is not physically addicting. It does not lead to harder drug use. And, does not lead to criminal activity, except in places where it is illegal.

In US states that have legalized marijuana, drug-related crime has decreased, and opioid abuse has plummeted. Not to mention the huge tax revenue.

The pharmaceutical and alcohol industries keep pushing hard to keep it illegal at the federal level, just as they do in Japan. But, that will change at some point, just as it will eventually in Japan. (My wife still finds it hard to accept its safety due to a lifetime of indoctrination by "reefer madness" type propaganda in Japan.)

The legal availability of it in California is one of the few things I look forward to when there. At least CBD oil is available in Japan. But, it's ridiculously expensive.

Arrested the following day? Confused

She's a stoner. Check the link.

https://vine.co/u/954278718346522624

Plural use of 'buns' in the article may just be a translation mistake. Japanese language uses the word バンズ (buns) even for single ones.

How or why would anyone split up such a tiny amount?

yeah i travel with hot dog buns all the time, not suspicious at all

She was quoted by the police as saying, "I didn't mean to smuggle it. I just forgot about it.

That's new. She should have used the I was high and don't remember excuse

Take that war on drugs! I mean let's look at the number here for sec. In 2016 just Colorado sold a measly 67,239,625 grams of marijuana. It sure is a good thing Japan took 0.97 grams out of the global supply chain.

(source: http://www.postindependent.com/news/marijuana/marijuana-by-the-numbers-10-numbers-about-pot-in-colorado-that-dont-include-4-20/)

And I would agree that there is some correlation between the Japanese rejection of mj and the Japanese rejection of opioids.

The only correlation is the grossly mistaken belief that the use of one leads to the use of the other.

She is -unfortunately-- so busted. The posting of being high, ‘blazin’ it’ etc, etc. Stupid and naive at best. Don’t take drugs where you aren’t allowed to, where the consequences just aren’t worth it. Want to ge thigh, 7be free’, go live where it’s not illegal to do so.

Something for the JCops to beat their chests for. I don't understand the "arrested the next day" bit.

customs agent: "what are these?"

me: "hot dog buns"

customs agent: "why do you have hot dog buns in your luggage?"

me: "in case I get hungry at the airport"

customs agent: "ok, proceed"

yeah happens all the time

@sourpuss - You're quite right that Japan has smartly avoided the opioid plague that has swept the US. And I would agree that there is some correlation between the Japanese rejection of mj and the Japanese rejection of opioids. However I don't think it is true that mj leads to opioids or is deadly (except when, e.g. driving), whereas opioids are clearly deadly. Mj does however have negative side effects, and offers nothing except that which can already be experienced through physical exercise, fasting, meditation, and introspection.

By the way, those "crackpot" doctors are/were only middlemen, just following the advice (and money) of major pharmaceuticals who spent big money on proselytizing the wonders of OxyContin, etc. In a case in 2007, the parent company of Purdue Pharma and three current and former executives there pleaded guilty to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about OxyContin’s risk of addiction and potential for abuse. Purdue promoted the drug, which is long-acting, as posing a lower risk of abuse and addiction than shorter-acting painkillers—such as Percocet and Vicodin. The firm admitted it had made statements about its drug that were “inconsistent” with approved prescribing information. In other words, the firm had incorrectly told doctors that OxyContin was less prone to abuse than other opioid medicines. The firm agreed to pay $600m and the three executives paid $34.5m in fines.

That company and those executives still made huge profits after selling tens of billions of dollars worth of opioids. And they faced no jail time, as I expect this girl will face. Yes, America is soft on the biggest pushers of all.

None of you ever wonder why there are so few drug-related deaths or ruined lives in Japan?

There are plenty of drug related deaths in Japan from tobacco and alcohol, to name just a few...

As for ruined lives...ha! Don't get me started.

Seriously, can you tell me what harm this girl has done that constitutes her life being ruined (Oh, look! Another 'ruined life') as a punishment?

0.97 gram of cannabis

Blimey! Risa "Escobar" Yorizane, does this mark the beginning of a new Medellín-style cartel?! LOL

OMG ! Such a FELON on the LOOSE...gimmie a BREAK. REALLY ?

Oh, by the way there SourPussy, there is actually quite a BIT of Cannabus in Japan, in fact, it was perfectly LEGAL until WWII and "The West" pushed their "Morality" on the country. In fact, Mushrooms were ALSO LEGAL in Japan until 1998!

Figure THAT one out.

Japan will have to change its marijuana laws at some point in the not so distant future as more and more pharmaceutical products come on the market derived from the marijuana plant. Epidiolex (CBD) is expected to pass phase 3 trials soon and to deny sick children medication that can prevent brain damage/death from epilepsy would be politically insane. Once there is a review of the law that states no medications can be derived from marijuana leaves and flowers (not the stem) a more honest and credible debate about marijuana in Japan might begin. Until that that time, if you are thinking about bringing it into Japan-leave it to the professionals.

Thanks Marvin...Hope the cops watched the "Blaaazin up" video

She's a stoner. Check the link. https://vine.co/u/954278718346522624

Thanks for the link. She is the type of Japanese person that belongs far away from Japan in terms of character and lifestyle. After she is released, I bet she never returns.

It does not matter if she forgot about it or any other excuses.

According to Japanese law, all Japanese citizens are bound to Japanese laws even when they are overseas.

Therefore by purchasing, possessing and consuming marijuana, even in an area where it is legal, she can be convicted under Japanese law. Even if she did NOT have marijuana in her possession when she was caught, she could still have been charged and convicted under Japanese law.

Think about that for a bit.

 "I just forgot about it."

The dope smoker's lament!

@Marvin Lee Dangerfield thanks for the link she is cute. chunky but funky

yeah i travel with hot dog buns all the time, not suspicious at all

No sireee! You can find hot dog buns prominently displayed on gift shop shelves in almost every international airport.

How on earth did they detect 0.97 grams of Cannabis ? It sounds like an amount that could have been picked up on the wheels of your luggage.

From the photo here it looks like just one hotdog, actually more like a croissant:

http://www.sankei.com/west/news/171005/wst1710050073-n1.html

Yeah her social media has pretty much ruined any reasonable excuses or defenses.

She needs to go ahead and hook up with some guy who can take her to a weed legal place. Japan simply not gonna work out for her.

Yes, it was really lucky of her not getting picked at the airport in China. For someone here complaining about drug control or unfairness between alcohol/ tobacco and weed, as someone up there mentioned already, just go live where smoking weed is not taken as a serious crime or even where it is legal.

Why don't you go China smoke weed and argue back, to the judge, it harms no one and all the first world countries began to slacken the reins on MJ?

If you're visiting Japan, and require certain medicines, then you may need to obtain specific permission for those Medicines before bringing them into the Country:

http://www.au.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/visa_medicine_en.html

Probably the most organic thing they found in those hot dog buns.

While "High on the Beach" and "Blazing Up" might sound wacky-tabacky-related, they should not be taken out of context. These could have been metaphors for... I don't know, maybe "smoking weed on the beach" and "just smoking weed"...

Came back in thru Kanku the other day and those dogs were all over everybody. Not just once; the handlers came round repeatedly. Sweet dogs, and friendly, encouraging handlers, but they reminded me of the woman who was detained because her clothes still smelt of grass from her vacation in the Philippines.

@WA4TKG

So....what? What's your point?

I'm saying that the fact that there's low drug tolerance in Japanese society which helps keep demand in check and promotes a virtuous cycle in which it's hard for drug pushing/addiction to get any traction here, and I think this is a good thing.

I have no idea what your point is.

@CraigHIcks

I agree with you. This combined with the omnipresence of low cost Mexican heroine only compounded the pre-existing social (drug) problems prevalent in American society. As an additional factor, the permissive attitudes toward drug use promoted in part by celebrities and their entourages only serve to encourage anti-social behavior. Everybody pays for the cool image drugs have, and the lack of this "coolness" in Japan is a good thing, as I mentioned above. This is not to say that Japanese celebs don't try to push the envelope when it comes to drug use here, but their public humiliation serves as a decent enough deterrent toward wide-scale drug-abuse/use.

I have no idea to what purpose it would serve Japanese society by enabling wider drug use, and I think neither do those posters here who rant and rave over the arrest of someone obviously knowledgeable about the illicit nature of their own behavior.

@AgentX

Tobacco and alcohol are legal, and as you state they ruin enough lives as it is. Are you suggesting the government promote more substances which can ruin lives?

Your argument doesn't justify more legalization; in fact it does just the opposite.

Lots of small-picture people posting today.

None of you ever wonder why there are so few drug-related deaths or ruined lives in Japan? I guess you all think the free-for-all attitude in the west is a better way to go.

The reason why this 0.97 grams is news-worthy is precisely because Japan doesn't have a situation where, for example, crackpot doctors prescribe opiates to the general population, who then turn to heroine dealers for a cheaper fix, at least until they run out of money, at which time they start stealing stuff from their families and eventually die anonymously in some back-alley. This kind of story is run-of-the-mill back home.

Is this what you all would prefer? I wouldn't.

I think Japan has a lot to be thankful for in this respect. 0.97 grams of MJ making the news puts a smile on my face, and not a sarcastic one.