Police nationwide took action against a record 3,008 people in cases involving marijuana in 2017, up 472 from the previous year, National Police Agency data showed Thursday, possibly because more people are using marijuana amid toughened measures on kiken (dangerous) drugs.
The data showed a notable increase in marijuana cases involving people aged below 20, raising concern that use of the drug is becoming more widespread among juveniles.
The number of individuals that came to police attention per 100,000 doubled to 3.0 in 2017 from 2013, while the number of those aged between 14 and 19 saw more than a five-fold increase from 0.8 to 4.1. The number of people in their 20s increased from 4.8 to 9.4.