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Police in Nara City have arrested two 16-year-old high school students on suspicion of violating the Cannabis Control Law. The teenage suspects, who are students at private and public schools, were apprehended on marijuana possession at their respective homes on Saturday night, Fuji TV reported. Police said both boys have admitted to the charge. One boy was also quoted by police as saying they intended “to make money by cultivating cannabis.”
According to police, one of the boys got into an argument with his father on Saturday after his father found out about the plan to grow marijuana for money. A member of the family called police who came over and found a growing container and soil specifically for cannabis cultivation at the home.
The boy told police he received weed from his friend the previous day and smoked it. Police then searched the friend’s home and confiscated a plastic bag containing dried cannabis and hemp seeds. The second boy told police he managed to obtain the drug online and by purchasing it in Osaka.
Nara police said they are continuing their investigation into how the teens initially obtained marijuana.
© Japan Today
34 Comments
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browny1
"..A member of the family called police .."
Geez - snitched on by your family over a plan to grow mj in a pot plant.
Now the boy has a criminal record for d-d-d-drugs!
Probably not the best solution all round.
Vince Black
This makes the headlines.
jojo_in_japan
snitches get stitches ....
Cricky
Oh the horror...the horror....a weed/ herb with a special pot and soil. Economically over valued due to its prohibition status. Refer madness at its finest. Prosecutors should take their passports, ban any contact with musicians and film their movements checking once a month the footage.
obladi
Memo to would-be high school marijuana farmers: "Don't tell Papa about your plans"
Tom
Would be any drug user wannaB do not even tell your own soul as it will rat on you in this country.
Alex Einz
family member is an idiot
borscht
Reefer madness actually.
Also, these poor kids are doomed. Ostracized from normal society and most likely expelled from school and all that entails (no university, no regular employment). They might have to emigrate to another country in order to get an education that could lead them to a normal life.
Asakk
Father of the year!! Really stupid by calling the police! Now your son's futur is ruined by having a record for drug
Blattamexiguus
Maybe now they will have to turn to growing weed to secure their future
nandakandamanda
The kid probably had on-going problems and this was the final straw, er, stalk.
Sh1mon M4sada
I reckon they'll be heroes for giving it a go, movie makers will pay'em big money for rights, fashion houses will want them to endorse designs etc.
Pot is not ice.
Disillusioned
Awesome! Japan has been saved from a pair of pot-effected mass-murderers. (sarcasm)
quercetum
Alternative option
1) Express interest in trees and horticulture to your parents
2) Collect Japanese maples - Acer palmatum or momoji.
3) Grow them from seeds and by grafting - tsugiki
4) Mix in cannabis and maple seedings. Label cannabis as maple cultivars.
JenniSchiebel
The article says that another family member, not the father, called the police.
Kenichi Mitomi
Are we not to expect more of this in future?
How can we address it.
The use of cannabis for recreational use is now legal in several States and more for the medical in the US.
As it is/was, 'drugs' was strickly prohobited by the Japanese society. Of course the message has always been there ("Prosecutors should take their passports, ban any contact with musicians and film their movements checking once a month the footage.") but what is now coming out of America must be really confusing to some people let alone getting in trouble with the police.
Education?
The youth will self educate by tied and tested method of.......... trying it !!!
(with caution)
Kenichi Mitomi
Front page news???
Indeed it well deserves the spot if we want to tackle problems like selling cocaine (acceptable 'known' problem of high earners in certain part of the world including Westminster) and corruptions.
Peace out
Strangerland
No, that's not even remotely accurate. Japan has a HUGE drug problem with the drug they've cleared for taxes and profits - alcohol.
They just don't allow all drugs, that's all. But if you step out into any city in Japan on any evening, there is rampant drug use going on in establishments everywhere.
The secret to doing drugs in Japan is to make sure you do not stray from the list of approved and taxed intoxicants. If you limit your drug use to alcohol, you will not run into any legal issues here.
miss_oikawa
Plus it will help render you not guilty of a plethora of other crimes!
William Bjornson
REEFER MADNESS: The only substance on the planet which causes insanity only in the people around the user...
theFu
Clearly, the two yutes need to be locked up for 50 yrs each to prevent their plan to take over Japan, and the govt strategic Dorito stockpiles.
Can't wait for my state to allow recreational MJ use. Alas, that won't happen until the entire US Federal laws are changed.
Strangerland
What? Where did you ever get that idea? That's not accurate at all.
BurakuminDes
Geez, with family like that who needs enemies! Ridiculous that these two boys are being prosecuted, the amount of police resources and taxpayers money spent on investigating two kid's silly plan than likely would not have eventuated. Give them a caution.
u_s__reamer
When in Japan, smoke, don't tell. Snitching to the "authorities" is deeply-rooted in their cultural DNA.
GW
That 16yr old needs a new family!!!
Japan & one family getting things horribly wrong......
Wakarimasen
Indeed headline news.
pointofview
16 year olds shouldn't be doing pot.
Strangerland
It's a harmless bit of puff regardless of the criminal status in many countries. Being criminal doesn't suddenly make it harmful. Well other than the harm that comes from being persecuted for something that is fine both morally and physically.
Strangerland
Hemp is marijuana, not a related species. Hemp is just the name given to marijuana strains that contain extremely low levels of THC. It's still the same plant.
kurisupisu
What entrepreneurship those young boys are showing-remarkable!
Kenichi Mitomi
This topic is important. Thank you editor for posting it headline.
I can see more of such cases happening in future perhaps not just as a headline but as life actual fact.
As a law abiding citizen of Japan, I am quite concerned.
With Internet and information easily available ( I do not know if firewall blocks MJ related pop videos on Youtube) young people with curiosity will look up. They might take a flight abroad to experiment. Is recreational use now legal in SF? Remember kids, it is forbidden to do illegal activity as Japanese on any foreign ground.
There are many other drugs to be talked about for example alcohol (seriously?), prescription drugs and how they can be economically over valued but we are talking about 16-year-old boys arrested for marijuana possession, and their future.
A lot will need to be talked about on this issue. What if hikikomori for example can be bettered by cannabis medication? Would it make our society any better? Silicon Valley talk about microdosing to improve performance. Could depression be cured from illness by use of psychedelics like lsd and mushrooms? All sorts of clever people are now doing the research above law.
This might be what we read on High Times but seriously.....
What if hikikomori starts having fun? May be our population problem will sort its-self out or otherwise leave Japan for another country.