Japanese police investigated a record 6,832 people for cannabis-related offences in 2025. This figure marks the highest number ever recorded with a jump of 754 cases compared to the previous year.
The National Police Agency released the figures on Apr. 3. Officials point to increasingly sophisticated supply networks as a major driver. Gangs, online dealers and foreign organizations operate these networks with advanced methods. They smuggle cannabis and distribute it through hidden channels. More than 40 per cent of those under 30 who faced questioning bought cannabis via apps like X and Telegram.
Police also seized 315 kilograms of marijuana concentrates in 2025, marking a jump of more than 300 per cent from 2024.
The National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki calls the spread serious. Authorities have been cracking down harder, partially because of a new law that took effect in December 2024 making cannabis use itself a crime in Japan for the first time. About 700 people from the total of nearly 7,000 faced investigation under this updated rule within its first active year.
This stringent new policy made it so that merely testing positive for THC (evidence of use) is considered an offence, even if the individual does not have any of the substance in their possession. The legal amendment to the country’s Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act bears similarity to other Asian nations with strict marijuana laws like Malaysia and Singapore.
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Cannabis use among young people surges
Usage by Japanese youth has been rising at a considerable rate. Arrests of people under 20 hit 1,373 in 2025.
That figure represents a rise of more than 20 per cent from the year before and stands as the highest since 1990. Police detained 315 high school students, 243 college students and 28 junior high students.
Experts link the increase to despair among young people to a certain extent. Rising living costs block job prospects and family goals, making several in their early twenties and teens want to consume and forget about their life troubles. Many young users now also view cannabis as being cool and harmless.
Japanese cannabis laws among strictest globally
The nation keeps some of the strictest cannabis laws in the developed world. Possession or use of THC carries penalties of up to seven years in prison.
The government permits medical cannabis only in very rare cases for patients with incurable diseases who have no other treatment options. Police continue aggressive enforcement against recreational use.
Hemp cultivation requires strict government licensing and heavy oversight. CBD products remain legal only if they contain zero THC. Officials continue to crack down hard on any recreational consumption, thereby protecting public health and maintaining social order in their view.
Read more: Japan’s cannabis industry had ‘staggering’ growth over past 4 years
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