A record 4,321 individuals were involved in cannabis cases in Japan last year, up 743 from the previous year for the sixth consecutive year of increases, with abuse of the drug by young people showing a marked rise, police said Thursday.
The number of those age 14 to 19 involved in cannabis cases probed by the police jumped 4.4-fold from 2.0 per 100,000 people in that age group in 2015 to 8.7, according to the National Police Agency data.
The number of people involved in their 20s per 100,000 more than doubled to 15.5 from 6.9 in the same period, according to the agency.