Drugs in Japan

With the level of law enforcement over here I thought we're gonna top the list. (3rd place isn't bad too)
We have the death penalty for trafficers here too.

woot first to comment.
nothing really to say lol

oh sh!t, it's free in South Africa?!? I'm moving!

weed is cheaper than tobacco here, i don't know a single person who hasn't tried it at least once. people that get busted for dealing weed here are usually just fined and in worst case scenario jailed. for me i personally don't consider weed to be a narcotic drug like ecstacy, crack or heroin.

I keep on trying it and it keeps getting better

Man, I need to take a trip to South Africa one of these days. I get mine for £5 a gram, seems like I've been getting ripped off? or is it just because it's the capital?

Surprised the Netherlands is so expensive though, despite it being legal there...

Anime is the best drug indeed, and weed is crap >.

You're right danny, here in Malaysia is a capital offense to posses or sell dadah. Most of the time if you're get caught it's a one way trip to the hangmen. Well, the problem of drugs is bad anyway here, though strangely enough weed is not popular (not that I know of).

I guess in Brazil is pretty much like US or UK.
We have tons of users. Dealers range from organized criminal factions to young rich spoiled people that lives the night live.

Though far faaarr as far as it can get from perfect, the police is taking more action against it, specially in big operations that aprehend drugs coming from other countries.

On the other hand, just recently we had a law change on how to deal with drug addicts.

Instead of being promptly arrested, now they are fined after spending a day arrested. Only drug dealers, with a certain ammount of drug in possession, are arrested.

Had to be done since all jails are now overcrowded with criminals.

There's been a recent discution also about weed... every now and then the discussion will arrise (pretty much like in all over the world) about either to legalize weed or leave it as is.

The topic on discussion right now is about middle classed youngsters selling Ecstasy on raves. Not new, but last weekend there were several aprehensions of an organized network that sold it on raves.
A pic of a young and beautiful (looked like a model) girl showed up on the news, as being one of the drug dealers, thus arrising the issue once again...

Wow almost $60 to get high in Japan? Thats crazy, people must take up a second job or a second mortgage to get weed there. In NYC its everywhere. We even have dealers with cars so they can deliver right to you within mins. But I wouldn't trust most of them, there rumors of dealers lacing up their sutff with other chemicals. Pretty dangerous.

If you don't want to try weed, then don't. Its a personal choice and my words are to be taken as advice, not a belief.

I think everyone should try it a-least once. Weed isn't addictive, although people say they can't stop taking it. Weed is like alcohol, its emotionally addictive. People use it to calm themselves down or to forget their troubles (although sometimes it amplifies them).

Side-effects: Besides it being smoke, which of course causes lung cancer, weed effects your memory of a long period of time.

I live in Miami, that alone should say enough about the drug use here. Do I smoke weed often? No. I've done it three times and the last time I ever did it I went on a trip I never experienced before. It was wonderful, but it would be my last. I haven't smokin' weed ever since. Experiences in life are the things that define who we are, as do accomplishments -- and things can't be accomplished without going through an experience.

i haven't tried it before but surely I will someday, you know, just know what it feels ^^

Personally I hate drugs. Aside from the fact that it wastes money, you're killing yourself and everyone else around you. For something with 0 benefits, I think it's pretty stupid. I have to cover my mouth everytime someone comes close to me. It particularly sucks where I live because 95% of men in their 40-80's and 70% of young adults smoke on the while they're walking down the streets. Lung cancer is also quite common in my area. Heck, it doesn't help my track performance.

Drugs = More money spent on addiction = Less money left for figurines.

And that is bad, for otakus.

LOL how come its like free in Africa?

There are many types of addictions, they all don't fall under chemical. Spending a lot of money on something thats a 'useless product' to an outsider is considered an addiction. Spending a lot of time on the internet is considered an addiction. The question is, now a-days, what the hell isn't an addiction?

People believe that every drug is chemically addictive, when thats not the case. Its a common myth thats spread to people, while they're young (too young to do their own research) so that they could stay away from something thats deemed illegal.

Also, not every drug is harmful to the people around the user. That mostly applies to smoke related drugs, cause of the risk of cancer via second-hand smoke. Although, I will say this, drugs aren't for everyone. If you have a phycological imbalance then stay away from them. Cause some can mentally mess you up. The mind is a dangerous thing to tamper with. Yet, I'm not going to sit here and say "DON'T TAKE DRUGS!" cause its your choice. Hopefully you're smart enough to know the turning point.

Stay safe and don't be stupid. >_>

What I meant to say is, Stay safe and educate yourself (sorry).

Weed is very popular here, crack too. There have been news reports of teachers who sell drugs to people, not sure if they sold it to their kids though. But weed in general is reported more on the news as it is quite easy to obtain here.

drug dealers and drug users both get a death penalty too in my country.
drugs is just have all the bad things you can have in the world so I suggest us to avoid them...and never ever try it even just for once...

Never tried it and since I'm allergic for smoke, I don't have the urge to try it. A lot of students here have tried it, since it's legal (thus easy) to get in coffee shops (it's Holland/The Netherlands after all ^^).

Never have, never will, even if it costs... nothing here apparently, heh.

lol friend smoked weed at his house once... found him staring at the TV surfin through static... asked him what he saw after. & he said he was watchin ghost rider lol !!!

anyways pot's wide spread here -_-

woah. singapore is 3rd in line. and the 1st South east asian country. lol

never had one and never will...

illegal drugs are everywhere and it is a very lucrative vice. local and foreign drug syndicates here puts up secret/underground illegal drug production factories and exporting outside the country.

i think the leading drug syndicate here in asia is the Chinese Triad.

"According to a recent report in the Economist, Japan is the most costliest place to get high"
- which is good for the people there :D

alcohol is worst and far more "dangerous" than weed, yet its legal.

I gotta say
Weed > Drinking > Caffeine > Cigarettes

Marijuana is definitely the healthiest of them, drugs are not for everyone and that's fine they don't need to be. Personally Marijuana has been the least detrimental to me, you can't over dose on it, but like anything else you can get addicted. I'm not addicted, at least i hope not, and i gotta say my only time to smoke is with friends. It is a sad state of affairs to smoke alone, kind of like drinking alone to get drunk, There are just too many shenanigans to be had with friends ^^;

It's illegal in the states, but it also illegal in one state to take a bath on sundays, federal loans are based on income instead of assets so that just helps people who don't really need the loans like trust fund babies.

It's not like you can get cancer from smoking, drinking. oh right...
and doing too much (*a lot*) will induce cardiac arrest, but that much caffeine is like doing meth.

So don't drink and drive,
smoke and fly.

I'm hoping it's so expensive because it's some primo Hydro. Otherwise your totally getting screwed at that rate. I've only payed that much once or twice back in the day when I used to smoke, and this was knock you out, make you stupid weed. And I must admit, imo, it was totally worth it.

I suppose if you don't want to pay that much you could always grow it yourself for a personal stash. It's not that hard and all you need is a closet to do it in. But good luck though explaining to the police if you get caught that it was all for personal use and there was not intent to distribute.

Some of my friends are addicted to weed and to see how it physically and mentally nullified them is enough for me not even consider it.

weed, smoking are for dead guy
they brought they death aura too

i hate smoker, wish to eradicate all of them

i bloody hate the smell when people are smoking!!! IT SUCKS BIGTIME!!! i just wonder why people like to pay just to kill themself. what worse is, they still implicate people around them by making them second-hand smokers. cigarettes production is the worst industry on earth!

Of course here in the Netherlands it's easy to buy it, there's a shop that sells it about 50m from me. I've tried it, but it's not for me. Friends ask me to buy them some all the time though, saves them the trouble of coming over.

i would love to sell it, but i would never even once use it.

Selling it is a sure way to earn big bucks, if one can overlook the fact that you're dooming many more lives in the process.
Too bad I can't.

I tried it two times, but I simply don't like it. It seems like the amount of weed consumers is increasing here, a year ago few people would talk about weed, now I meet a lot of people who smoke it. I prefer listening to music it can make you "high" in way too while relaxing :)

I would try it if the circumstances were right, but only once. Example of an fine circumstance would be if say... my grandpa smoked weed, I might have a wiff with him on the porch ^^ Even if I wanted to do any kind of drugs I just couldn't part with my money...

I've never tried smoking a cigarette, never mind weed D:<
Someone I knew smoked it and he couldn't keep his business running properly 'cause he'd spend his spare time smoking instead of improving the business, he eventually had to sell very very cheap x_x;

True that Japan is one of the most expensive places to buy weed.

What's more interesting and revealing about Japanese society is that foreigners DONT CONTROL & BUY all the weed!

When I was in Tokyo earlier this year, I met quite a number of Musicians, Designers, DJ's , Programmers and Journalists who were ALL JAPANESE , and
ALL LOVED WEED.

As far as I can tell these were often Japanese people who had studied abroad (Australia, Europe, Canada & USA) and had tried smoking it. After falling in love with it, they eventually returned to Japan and wanted to continue smoking it, but found it expensive & dangerous (because of police clamp-downs).

As a result, there seems to be a vast network of Japanese Cannabis smokers who DO NOT USE the usual channels to get their weed (Iranians, Israelis, Nigerians & Ghanains ).

It's probably not news to those who know a little about Japan that they excel at technically specific things. Home-growing Marajuana is one of those things. You dont have to be "cool" to grow weed - you just have to do it correctly. If you've ever seen an Ikebana display or have marveled at the beautiful gardens & plants spread all over Japan , you wouldnt be suprised to hear that Japanese hydroponically grown weed is AMAZING. Absolute top quality. Even for a seasoned veteran smoker like myself, I was blown away by the flavour & quality of the Marajuana.

These growers / dealers tend NOT to deal to foreigners (cant be trusted?) - and deal exclusively to other Japnese people in their extended friend network.

This is a way better option as you then avoid getting caught (as the cops always try to bust the Iranians) and the price is FAR LOWER !! (At the same time as the quality being far higher!)

Keep in mind these smokers I met were not "lazy drug-addicts" but rather very succesful young people in multiple industries (although I see a particular popularity in those involved with arts/music/design.

It's slowly and quietly changing Japanese society (for the better), but is feared by the government because they dont want people thinking for themselves.

By the way Danny, where can you get a gram for 2 Pounds 50 pence in the UK????

I would love to know as I am there right now and wouldnt mind those prices!!! As far as I can tell here in London & Birmingham it costs about the same as California.

BTW - The "drug" that the Seibu Train Driver was taking was probably "Kaku-sei-sai" (aka Speed, Meth, Crank, etc) NOT CANNABIS.

Speed has been around in Japan for over 100 years as it was invented there (In Kyoto University!) in the 1890's.

What many people (once again) do not know is that the Japanese army was given Kakuseisai as a stimulant to out power the americans in the Pacific. MOST (if not ALL) Kamikaze pilots were also shot up with Speed before their suicidal flights. "Yamato Damashi" my ass - if any of the pilots refused - they were promptly pushed to the ground and forcibly injected with the drug.

That's what you call a real drug problem....

not only is it expensive to smoke here, the government ban smoking in lots of places as well like pubs, bars, lounges, nightclubs, bus stops, non-air conditioned eateries etc.

Hahaha, I don`t need drugs to be cool!!

dude i hate it when i whent to school and i used to smell weed burning somewhere on the camous... and the school police officer wouldnt do anything about it it really sucked.....

Here is my opinion.

Some junkies have problems because of marijuana, and you often hear about them on TV, Internet or in the newspapers. Lots of "good" people smoke without any problem, you never hear about them.

Marijuana does not make you wiser, it's true. But you're not a junkie, or an addict because you smoke it.
It's the same thing with alcohol : you can have a beer or wine without being an alcohol addict, and without being totaly drunk. You just have a beer for the taste, for the feeling it brings to you, and perhaps to share it with friends. It's the same thing with Marijuana.
Yes, some people become addicted, but it's the same thing with alcohol : everywhere in the world you can see people in the street totally drunk, even (and perhaps more ?) in Japan. Usually, people who drink too much have some personal problems - with their family, whith their job, or only with themselves. It's the same thing with Marijuana. If you have problems, don't look for any solutions in beer, alcohol, or marijuana...
When you're OK, in your body and in your mind, you can have a beer or marijuana with friend or even alone, just for pleasure, and it's not fair to hear other people who don't even know what is beer or marijuana telling you that you're a junkie or an addict, and that you shouldn't do that.
No, when you smoke herb, you don't have hallucinations. Yes Marijuana is a "drug", exactly like alcohol and tobacco. Yes, smoking tobacco or marijuana is not good for health, especially when you smoke too much.

I think that having a beer or smoking marijuana from time to time (but not too much, of course) is OK for me.
I don't smoke tobacco in my everyday life, I make lot of sport, I have a good job, I live with my girlfriend, I pay all the taxes for my country, I have lot of friend, and some time I really appreciate to have a beer and/or marijuana alone or with my friend, just for pleasure, and I don't want to be arrested for that.

All I need to get high is a dose of anime and games XD Weed just won't do.

i think smoking weed is fine .. even though the government band it its quite lenient over in the U.K .. i know doctors that smoke weed and most people over in the u.k does it as well.. beside its better then smoking i dont smoke my sell but do like rolling a splif during the weekend.. its not addictive as well since the could be a chain smoker and suddenly stop the next day and there will be no side effect or craving.... for people that says that smoking weeds makes you look cool and stuff the are obviously under the wrong impression as most people generally smoke at home with a few mates... just so the tele looks more interesting ... me and my housemate did try to plant a few pots just for the fun of it but found it cheaper to buuy... i am not sure in gram but as far as i know you could get around 120pounds for an ounce or around 25 for and eight.... just for reference.. i could get around 100 for and ounce since we are quite close friends....

I live in the US where pot is illegal because wars of any type net large profits and drug wars are no different than military wars in that sense. Despite all this i use it regualarly, and know many others of varying race, social status, financial position, and age who also use it.

Its not about trying to look cool, or rebel against the government and establishment.Its not about escaping from reality, or running away from problems. It doesn't make me any more or less intelligent. I am not advocating its use to anyone in particular,but rather trying to un-demonize it to those who are very confused it seems.Its critical to understand that mainstream media, lobbyists and people who feel their beliefs should be wrenched upon everyone else(aka religion) all tell you its a horrendous drug and show very unrealistic examples of what happens when you use it.

Think for yourself, do some research and you may learn that some of the brightest minds of the 20th century used marijuana. My favorite example is Carl Sagan.

To further my case of its use example: I got high most days before school,(never during for fear of being caught) and during this time i learned a lot. I was in the National Honor Society, Physics Club, Foreign Language Club, i took all advanced courses, and most of my teachers and classmates knew of my marijuana use. I portrayed a positive ezample of a marijuana user and because of that many of those people learned a truth that they won't find through most other mediums.

Neon Genesis Evangelion+ Huge Joint= One helluva time.

PS" we need forums!!!

Nope, but I have two plants that are slowly dying, shame, I wanted to see them flower :(

Excellent conversation folks. Now I just need to get the forums up n running ^^;

I worked in a free clinic for a year or so and there were lots of pot junkies who came through. The doctors would tell them the should cut back so they wouldn't be coming in as often, but they'd be in the next week or the next month, taking time away from other patients with diseases and not addictions. I don't believe weed is bad, since there are applications in medicine where it can be used, but the effect it has on a person makes people satisfied to laze around or do nothing. Around Berkeley, you'll find regulars around certain streets who just ask for money to buy weed--not food--every day. It's sad because they take help away from people who do need money for food or shelter for their own high.

ah ... singapoe is 3rd in the list, it cost about SG$10 to get a pack of smoke.

About 99% of the teenagers around here smoke weed. BC is known for it's weed farms. Personally, I've never tried it and don't really have any desire to.

i remember the law in the country controlled the drug till the extent just 15g of heroin = death penalty.. well for weed i'm not very sure..

Drug addicts are just one of the reasons "this world is rotting."

Weed is NOT drug. period.
It's not "physically" addictive, unlike real drugs, i.e. cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine.

Weed is not banned because it causes real harm, it's banned because of the social stigma attached with it.

If any case can be made against weed, we really should ban cigarettes first :)

Cigarettes are proven to be addictive and cancer inducing, not to mention the harm they cause on bystanders.

wow australia is way up there T_T

love and hate to move to japan orz

I started smoking weed when I was a teenager; even smoking it at my highschool. During college and after gradutaion I smoked it almost every day. I smoked it at home, at friends' homes, in public, in many different countries all over Europe and Asia (including a LOT of it in England when I lived there for a while). I have smoked it, purchased it, sold it, grown it and even been arrested for it. (I've never come into contact with it while in Japan).

In the middle of July 2007, I suddenly stopped. I don't know if it's because I am getting too old for that or if I have simply lost interest (maybe I'm just partied-out). It's been 8 months since the last time I smoked it; and I really don't miss it at all; although I do think about it once in a while. I don't know if I will ever smoke it again; it's possible, but right now I think it's pretty unlikely.

I've enough stimulation in the Army...besides, I couldn't imagine the ignominy of getting sectioned out dis-honorably.

I smoke it regularly, and I enjoy it.

Some people take it too far, as with anything really. In small doses it can be a lot of fun to some weed with your friends, I'm a strong advocate of weed as a social drug.

Man I don't even know where I would be able to find weed where I live... then again even if i did I am so clean that its not even funny. I mean I'm in high school and I haven't had one drink of alchol, or one smoke of a cigarett.