[Sangetsu]

Smuggling marijuana to an island nation like Japan is not easy, and customs is very aggressive when checking anything which comes into the country. Some of you may remember a few months ago that the new principal of the Sacred Heart International School was arrested when her husband attempted to ship a small amount of marijuana to her. Like all other foreigners who get caught with drugs, she was arrested, tried, and deported without even getting a chance telephone her coworkers or to change her clothes.

Drug use in Japan is extremely uncommon. One can get arrested for narcotics possession in Japan even for marijuana residue in an ash tray. The Japanese make no distinctions. And one must remember that Japanese police possess far more powers than the police of of western nations. If you are arrested you don't get any phone calls, and there is no requirement for an attorney to be present when you are questioned. And when you are convicted (which happens pretty close to 100% of the time) you are going to spend time behind bars. Drugs mean jail in Japan if you are caught.

If you want to know why Japan is such a safe country, you now know part of the reason. No drugs means no drug money and no drug gangs. It means no one has to steal or prostitute themselves to buy drugs. It means that the prisons are not full of drug dealers, and that the hospitals are not full of drug addicts. Japan is a good example of a country where strict drug prevention policies has been a success.

Japan may not be a Christian country, but it is certainly a moral one. The punishment a drug user endures in prison is probably nothing compared to the shame his family endures when news gets out of his arrest. The first thing people think here when someone gets arrested is "His poor parents, how are they going to face their neighbors?". The families of those arrested for drugs or other crimes often move to another city rather than endure the shame.

Having long lived and worked in an area where drug use was common, along with the associated crime, poverty, and death, I much prefer the Japanese attitude about drugs.