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https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade_in_Japan

Illegal drug trade in Japan has a long history, influenced by various factors such as economy and war. As a developed country in Asia, Japan also faces the same serious drug abuse problem as the developed countries in Europe and America. Japan's manufacturing industry is developed, and is one of the pillars of the national economy, but it is also very short of resources, therefore it needs to import a lot of raw materials from other countries. This has made Japan an important hub for the trade of goods in Asia, which in turn has allowed Japan's illegal drug trade to flourish.

Cultivation and processing

As early as the Meiji restoration period, hemp was widely cultivated in Japan as a medicine for treating asthma and as a raw material of hemp rope and hemp garment for fishing. Between the end of the 19th century and the end of the second world war, marijuana was still widely grown as a military necessity, but various problems caused by marijuana use have been emerging in the United States since the beginning of the last century. Since then, human beings have had a new understanding of cannabis, and the cultivation of cannabis in Japan has also been greatly affected. In the 1930s, the mainstream American society began to believe that cannabis was extremely harmful, and the government began to formulate relevant measures against cannabis. By the end of the second world war, the prohibition of marijuana in the United States had influenced the prohibition of marijuana in Japan, which it had taken over. Even so, the illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana cannot be totally banned. Now, indoor cultivation technology is adopted in many areas of Japan.

Drug abuse

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The first epidemic of methamphetamine abuse in Japan began after the end of world war ii. Since methamphetamine was not used much in the general population, the dependence and psychotoxicity caused by methamphetamine were not well known at the time. They are used mainly by military personnel from the United States. However, after world war ii, pharmaceutical companies and the military put methamphetamine stocks on the market. One report found that 550,000 people abused methamphetamine in the 12 years after the end of world war ii. In the 1960s, As in many parts of the world, hippie culture flourished, and futen-zoku was a Japanese version of hippie. Although psychedelic use is a well-known aspect of the hippie subculture, such drugs are difficult to obtain in Japan. So hippies often used organic solvents instead. In 1982, the number of drug-related crimes in organic solvents peaked at 36,796. In the mid-1970s, Japanese drug dealers replaced sulfuric acid with hydrochloric acid for solid processing, inadvertently creating the solid methamphetamine hydrochloride, now the mainstay of crystal meth. Since then, amphetamine-type drugs have become popular again in Japan. In fact, the second large-scale drug abuse was directly promoted by Japan's domestic yakuza groups, who organized the trafficking of methamphetamine drugs, secretly built methamphetamine drug manufacturing plants in South Korea and Taiwan, and smuggled them into China to sell to the general public and students as a source of funds. It is also the reason why the proportion of young drug users in Japan is growing, and why intravenous drug users are more likely to use amphetamine-type drugs. Between the 1970s and 1980s, 40 per cent of Japan's organic solvents and 40 per cent of its amphetamine-type drugs were abused.

Blue Crystal Meth

In the 1990s, as the Japanese economy experienced a severe recession and the national economic development remained stagnant for a long time, the drug abuse problem appeared again. During this period, new drug abuse problems such as "hallucinogenic mushrooms" and "mastermind drugs" emerged successively in Japan. At the same time, the abuse of crystal meth also became more and more serious. The drugs were mainly from China and South Korea. This was a time when people could buy drugs directly from drug dealers via cell phones and the Internet. Drug crime is also on the rise, with methamphetamine injections accounting for 80 percent of drug abuse. Violent groups in Japan are believed to be major players in drug trafficking. At the same time, in the 1990s, the United States and Latin American countries increased their efforts to crack down on hard drugs such as cocaine, making drug trafficking groups begin to turn to the Japanese market, and the domestic circulation of cocaine and heroin in Japan increases year by year.

The problem of cannabis abuse in Japan has only become more acute in recent years. In recent years, the frequent arrests of stars and writers for illegal possession of marijuana show that the problem of marijuana abuse in Japan is still serious. What worries all sectors of Japanese society most is that with the rapid development of Internet and other technologies, Japanese teenagers can obtain marijuana through multiple channels. Marijuana trade not only happens in college campuses, but also gradually spreads to middle schools and even primary schools.

Trafficking

Working on it...

Treaties and conventions

In July 1948, the Japanese government promulgated the cannabis control law, which clearly stipulated the cultivation, transportation, sales and personal use of cannabis. Without the approval of the government, the cultivation, possession or use of marijuana is not allowed, and even the collection of mature wild marijuana leaves is illegal. In March 1953, the Japanese government promulgated the "Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act" to control more drugs. At the same time, the ministry of narcotic drugs prohibition was also established as a special department for drug control.

In 1972, Japan promulgated the "toxic drugs and strong drugs control act", which began to restrict the production and sale of organic solvents, but the problem of organic solvents drug abuse is still particularly serious.

The Japanese government attaches great importance to the fight against drug crimes. In addition to legislative restrictions, in 2003 it formulated the five-year new strategy against drug abuse, which reformulates a new prevention strategy every five years. In order to curb the increasingly rampant drug smuggling crimes in recent years, the Japanese government has also formulated the emergency measures to prevent drug smuggling. In addition, Japan has stepped up anti-drug campaigns to reduce the number of new drug users.

Reference

Asian drug problem documentary: Japan. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.360doc.com/content/19/0128/10/18841360_811730364.shtml

Brewster, D. (2018). A Critical Assessment of Indications of the National Prevalence of Illegal Drug Use in Japan. Contemporary Drug Problems, 45(4), 425–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091450918782498

Nakano, H. (2014). SY01-5 CURRENT CONDITIONS AND TREATMENT OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE IN JAPAN. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 49(suppl1), i3–i3. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agu052.5

Trends in Illicit Drugs and Firearms Smuggling in Japan (2015 Edition) : Japan Customs. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.customs.go.jp/english/enforcement/report2015_e/index.htm

Wada, K. (2011). The history and current state of drug abuse in Japan.(Report). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1216.

Yamamoto, J. (2004). Recent Trends of Drug Abuse in Japan. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1025(1), 430–438. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1316.053