Authorities are cracking down on dried plant stems, leaves and seeds similar to drugs,
although legal, which are spreading among youths and may be damaging their
health. The number of stores that deal in these products, known as “legal
herbs” because they are unregulated,
has increased sharply in Tokyo. According to the metropolitan government, 93
stores sell “legal drugs,” a broader category that includes these plant fragments, up from 17 in fiscal
2010 and two in fiscal 2009.
“Even though these products are billed
as 'legal,' the constituents
closely resemble those of marijuana and stimulants,” a metropolitan official
said. “They can cause serious drug dependence and health damage.”
Many stores that handle “legal herbs”
and smoking equipment call themselves sundries stores. The plant fragments
are often sold as incense or aromatic products, not for inhalation. Tokyo’s
Metropolitan Police Department plans to keep a closer watch on sales of these
products. At a store in Shibuya, the dried fragments, cut into 2- to
3-millimeter pieces, were sold in 10-centimeter-square bags for 5,000 yen
($65) or more per bag.
On the night of Jan. 25, three boys,
aged 17 to 18, were taken to a hospital after complaining of headaches and
nausea at a parking lot in Shibuya. They were smoking cigar-shaped “legal
herbs” they said were given away at a nearby store. “Similar stores have
cropped up in Shibuya, and some let customers smoke inside the stores,” a
senior police officer said. “Damage to young people will increase if these
products are left as they are.”
Whenever certain substances are
prohibited, peddlers come up with new products whose chemical structures are
slightly different from those of the banned substances. “Stores are familiar
with the law,” a senior official at the Metropolitan Police Department said.
“It is difficult to take action unless banned substances are contained.”
The health ministry is considering revising ordinances to introduce a
blanket regulation over products whose chemical structures resemble those of prohibited
substances.
In January, the ministry also asked
officials in prefectural governments to more closely regulate stores that
deal in “legal drugs.”
(This article was written by Kaoriko
Okuda and Yutaka Shimizu.)
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VOCABULARY
1. Cracking down
(phrasal verb) - to become more strict in dealing with a problem and punishing
the people involved
2. Unregulated (adj.) -
not controlled by a government or law
3. Fragment (n) - a
small piece of something that has broken off or that comes from something
larger
4. Constituent (n) - one
of the substances / form of something
5. Revising (v) - to
change something because of new information or ideas
6. Resemble (v) - to
look like or be similar to someone or something
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Name commonly used
herbs in your country.
2. Which herbs are
considered illegal?
3. What are some uses
of drugs?
4. What are the effects
of drugs?
5. Discuss about
illegal drugs in your country.
