Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jan 2005
Source: Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
Copyright: 2005 Asahi Shimbun
Contact:  http://www.asahi.com/english/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3626
Author: Ko Tanaka

HEALTH MINISTRY MOVES TO CORRAL DOZENS OF LEGAL NARCOTICS

Linked to health problems and even violent crimes, dozens of legal drugs 
have caught the attention of the health ministry, which is taking steps to 
outlaw their use, sources said.

The unregulated substances, dubbed "dappo drugs," come in tablet or bottled 
liquid form and sell for several thousand yen on the streets of 
entertainment districts, at clubs and over the Internet.

Under the law, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare restricts the use 
of drugs that contain narcotics and substances for medical treatment. About 
140 substances are regulated under the Narcotic and Psychotropic Drug 
Control Law. However, if a drug differs even slightly in composition, it is 
considered outside the law's restrictions and can be openly circulated.

Furthermore, since the drugs contain no medical substances and cannot be 
controlled by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, they can be traded as 
aromatics or even video cleaners.

About 100 types of these drugs, including AMT, which is known on the street 
as "Day Tripper," are thought to be in circulation, particularly among 
teenagers and young adults, according to informed sources.

The drugs have been linked to violent crimes.

In July of last year, a man in his 20s was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly 
killing a woman he was living with after ingesting three kinds of 
unregulated drugs.

Health experts, who note the potential for abuse and other health risks, 
are also calling for legal restrictions on the drugs.

Next month, the ministry will set up a group of more than a dozen experts, 
including those from the fields of medicine, pharmacology, criminal law and 
juvenile delinquency, to come up with plans by October for controlling the 
substances.

The experts will debate how to classify the drugs and how they might be 
regulated under the current drug control law.

Based on the group's findings, the ministry plans to submit bills on legal 
changes to the regular Diet session in 2006. By expanding the range of 
banned substances, the ministry expects to use existing laws to outlaw 
trade in and possession of the currently law-dodging drugs, some of which, 
though labeled as tonics, are hallucinogenic.

The ministry also wants the group of experts to debate ways to control the 
unregulated drugs under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law for medicines, and 
to consider ways to test the drugs on animals to verify their toxicity.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo metropolitan government plans to adopt its own 
ordinance to control production and sale of such drugs.