As concerns mount over the growing use of quasi-legal herbs as narcotics, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has started monitoring Internet sales of the herbal mixture — but to limited effect as vendors take great pains to stay within the law.
The health ministry began the monitoring in June and has found a few dozen websites selling the herbs with phrases that may violate the law, official Shigeki Iso told The Japan Times on Tuesday.
Called "dappo herb," such herbal mixtures are laced with unregulated substances whose chemical components differ only slightly from those found in illegal cannabis or stimulants.