Tag - drugs

 
 

DRUGS

A 46-year-old priest was arrested Thursday for possessing marijuana at his home in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture, according to an NHK report.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2023
Chiba priest arrested for marijuana possession: NHK
Police arrested the priest at Rengeji Temple for possessing dried marijuana at his home.
A meeting to discuss how to prevent the use of kiken drugs (hazardous drugs), is held at the health ministry on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 29, 2023
As drug use rises in Japan, government eyes prevention plans
The ministry reported that by the end of August, around 300 stores in the country were found to be selling quasi-legal products known as “kiken drugs.”
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023
Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?
A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
A woman shops for medicine at a drugstore in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2023
More young women overdosing on over-the-counter drugs
In a country where illicit drugs are hard to obtain, many have begun to abuse cough and cold medications, which are legal and easily accessible.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigators raid the dormitory of the Nihon University football team in Tokyo's Nakano Ward on Aug. 22.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2023
Nihon University suspends football team over cannabis allegations
Tokyo police searched the team's dormitory on Aug. 22, after more players were suspected of possessing cannabis, investigative sources said.
Nihon University's American football team restarts training on Aug. 11 in Tokyo after it was suspended.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 23, 2023
Nihon University scandal puts focus on 'collective responsibility'
Critics of the approach of punishing an entire team for wrongdoing by some say it can unfairly affect athletes that weren't involved.
Members of the Ecuadorean Armed Forces stand guard outside a penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador, during a joint operation between the police and the military last Saturday. A state of emergency was declared in the country on Aug. 10, following the assassination of popular presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 18, 2023
Ecuador to vote in election dominated by 'horror' of violence
The country's murder rate has soared above that of Mexico or Colombia, and several politicians have been assassinated in the run-up to the vote
Fake oranges filled with captagon pills, intercepted by the customs and the anti-drug brigade at Beirut port, Lebanon, in 2021.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 18, 2023
‘Poor man’s cocaine’ costing $3 a pill threatens to proliferate
Selling for around $3 to $25 per tablet, experts say captagon is primarily produced and trafficked by groups tied to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Mariko Hayashi, chairwoman of the board of trustees at Nihon University, bows to the media after giving a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2023
Nihon University chairwoman apologizes for student drug scandal
Mariko Hayashi denied reports that she was kept in the dark about facts surrounding the case, which involves the university's American football team.
Even as some countries have moved to legalize or decriminalize marijuana, Japan has maintained a zero tolerance policy on the drug, prohibiting its possession or sale.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2023
Navigating Japan's maze of cannabis-related laws
Japan has maintained a zero tolerance policy on cannabis, but the legality of other products on the market, including ones sold as CBD, is murkier.
Police leave the dormitory of Nihon University's American football team in Tokyo after finishing the search on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2023
Police say cannabis use is rising among youth
Citing lower prices and easier access, nearly a third of offenders under 30 that were surveyed said they purchased through the internet.
Noriyasu Kitabatake, a 21-year-old member of Nihon University's American football team, is arrested Saturday for alleged possession of cannabis and an illegal stimulant, at his dormitory on Saturday morning.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 5, 2023
Nihon University student arrested for alleged drug possession
A 21-year-old member of Nihon University's American football team was arrested Saturday for alleged possession of cannabis and an illegal stimulant.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigators search the dormitory of Nihon University's American football team in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2023
Illegal stimulants found in Nihon University football player dorm
Police are planning to conduct a further investigation into the 21-year-old male football player who is suspected of possessing them.
Up until the 1980s, Mexico was a country in which drug cartels and a corrupt state could cut deals that took much of the bloodshed out of the business. The government's crackdown on the drug traders, at the behest of the U.S., changed that.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023
Mexico and the U.S. are divided by guns and fentanyl
The two neighbors see the toll taken on their citizens by violence and drugs in different ways and can’t agree on which poses the most pressing threat.
Mariko Hayashi, head of the board at Nihon University, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on July 11.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2023
Football players at Japan university allegedly caught with cannabis
Club activities for the team have been suspended and the college has conducted interviews with coaches, club members and former club members.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 8, 2023
U.S. takes aim at China over Latin America trade tactics and fentanyl role
China has denounced U.S. sanctions on Chinese firms and individuals over their alleged involvement in the fentanyl trade and has accused Washington of trying to deflect blame.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2023
Xylazine spreads faster than U.S. officials can act
The U.S. needs better ways of tracking illicit xylazine, a sedative that’s especially dangerous when mixed with fentanyl.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’