The number of people arrested for possessing cannabis reached 5034 nationwide in the last year, a record high for the fourth consecutive year.
The younger generation is less aware that cannabis is dangerous, and police are stepping up their crackdowns and measures.
According to the National Police Agency, the number of people arrested for possessing or cultivating cannabis was 5034 nationwide last year, an increase of 713 from the previous year, a record high for four consecutive years.
By age group,
▽ 20s accounted for the largest number of 2540 people, accounting for half of the total, and
▽ teens also
accounted
for the largest number of 887 people so far.
Recently, there is a tendency for the age to become even younger, and
▽ 8 junior high school students
▽ 159 high school students
▽ 219 university students were arrested.
From the analysis of recent incidents, the younger generation is less aware that cannabis is dangerous, and the motivation for using it is "interesting" or "atmosphere", and it is easy to obtain it. ..
In addition to buying and selling drugs using jargon on SNS, the police are cracking down on the Internet, such as using an app that disappears messages after a certain period of time so as not to leave evidence. Is also strengthening.
Smuggling on SNS Spreads mainly to younger generations
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, illegal drug transactions are spreading mainly to the younger generation through SNS.
Recently, transactions using pictograms and jargon have been confirmed in an attempt to blind the investigative agencies.
For example, in pictograms,
▽ vegetables are "cannabis"
▽ honey is "cannabis liquid" and "cannabis wax"
▽ shaved ice is "stimulant"
▽ bicycle is "cocaine"
▽ capsule is seen to refer to synthetic drug "MDMA" I have.
In addition, there is a conspicuous method of offering purchases to people who want to receive the drug directly, using the jargon "hand-push" which means "handing over".
When the person who sees the post sends a message, the trafficker may instruct you to switch to the communication using the application that does not leave a record of communication, so you can see the fact that the transaction is becoming more sophisticated.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare “Easy to obtain illegal drugs on illegal sites”
Toru Tanaka, chief of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Monitoring and Guidance and Drug Countermeasures Division, said, "The number of arrests for young people is increasing, and we take it as a very serious situation. You can get illegal drugs. Young people feel free to use SNS, so the spread of such tools is one of the factors. "
In addition, he said that "there is widespread false information that there is no harm to health even if it is used" as to the reason why young people who deal with cannabis are endless. It's very dangerous, so please do not touch it. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare wants to disseminate information that cannabis is harmful in an easy-to-understand manner and further strengthen the crackdown. "