Police last year recorded 706 cases involving quasi-legal drugs, a more than five-fold increase since 2013. The figure represented an all-time high since comparable data became available in 2008. The surge is partly attributable to recent moves to tighten control over what officials currently refer to ...
A "workbook" approach is drawing attention as an effective way to address a growing number of drug addicts in Japan, where there are only around 10 specialized medical institutions nationwide to treat abuse cases. The approach uses textbooks designed to help doctors and medical staff ...
The Liberal Democratic Party and ruling coalition ally Komeito have drawn up a draft amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law that would allow sales bans on quasi-legal drug products to be applied nationwide rather than just to a single store, according to sources close ...
A total of 4,469 people were taken to hospitals in connection with so-called quasi-legal drugs from January 2009 to June this year, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday. In the first survey of its kind, the agency collected reports from regional emergency services ...
In the face of a series of accidents caused by drivers high on law-skirting "dappo" drugs, the health ministry used new emergency powers Tuesday to ban two substances. The substances are believed to have been used by a man who allegedly killed one pedestrian and ...
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday inspected 68 outlets known for selling "dappo" (loophole) drugs, which are not technically illegal but cause effects similar to illegal drugs. The inspections came after a revised ordinance took effect July 1 to prevent the abusive use of quasi-legal ...
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to inspect stores suspected of selling quasi-legal narcotics, after the Cabinet called for a crackdown on so-called “dappo” drugs.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declares war against quasi-legal highs known as “dappo” drugs, pledging to adopt a speedier process by which regulators can identify and outlaw products with dangerous narcotic or hallucinogenic ingredients.
The death of a pedestrian run over by a driver who was allegedly using "dappo" herbs just shows the quasi-legal narcotic is on the rise, experts say.
A man under the influence of quasi-legal herbs drove a speeding car into pedestrians Tuesday evening in the bustling Tokyo district of Ikebukuro, leaving one person dead and seven people injured. The driver, Keiji Nagura, a 37-year-old restaurant manager from Yoshikawa, Saitama Prefecture, was arrested ...
