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It’s just a fucking plant
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https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2864402/japan-to-criminalise-cannabis-use
WTF? Japan, you’re supposed to be doing the opposite!
Tbh, I don’t expect any culture that considers tattoos to be taboo to be cool with weed.
Yeah, they have some nice things going for them but Japanese culture still very patriarchal and conservative overall
That’s why they will fail
That plus a massive amount of inherent isolationism plus an extreme birth shortage and an already very aged population.
The writing is on the wall in many ways unless major, unprecedented changes were to be made. Japan in a hundred years will be unrecognizable without them.
They are some of the most repressed puritans. I would always try to get my friend to leave work early (in reality on time) so we could do something but they will not stand up for themselves. Have to put in the minimal 10hrs per day in a 40hr workweek or you are a slacker.
They’re preoccupied trying to figure out how to get their population to stop disappearing.
The population is aging badly
Fucking idiots. Legalize and tax it. It works every time.
I actually think it would be detrimental to Japanese demographics.
They are already having a hard time trying to convince young people to give up their freedom and pop out more babies. Weed would only make them think more clearly, not blindly.
I know you’re joking but… People say that about cannabis, but there are plenty of right-wing people who love getting high. Doesn’t make them think more clearly.
I am very, very pro cannabis and I was not joking.
In my experience, cannabis does make you question authority and being told what to do (to be fair, that might just be how it affects me).
I’ve been to Japan, there is a huge culture of respect and following authority and just trusting the authority has honour. Psychoactive substances encourage you to think twice instead of trusting authority based on tradition.
Just my two cents.
Maybe different people are affected differently. You may be adversely affected by penicillin, I may not be. Metformin may work for you, I may require insulin?
Again- lots of right-wing people love using cannabis. I can tell you from living right by the Illinois border but nowhere near a big city that I see Trump bumper stickers on big trucks at the dispensary constantly.
Right and left wing are not the same as authority and lack of authority, it’s actually a different dimension (as shown on political compasses).
Japan’s issue is their hierarchy and authority, them being right wing is not really what makes cannabis incompatible.
Idk where the right wing connection came from
Trump voters specifically are authoritarian. I think you know that.
Yes, which is what differentiates them from the old country club conservatives, they don’t just have right wing views of the economy, they want a leader with absolute power.
Which is why it’s so dangerous and we shouldn’t be taking about left or right wing but authority vs freedom.
The terms right and left wing originated as a shorthand due describing monarchists and anti-monarchists. Authoritarianism is THE defining characteristic of the right. Things like economic policies only come into it because authoritarians prefer economic policies that give more power to economic elites.
It’s not the plant, it’s what it reveals about the people using scare tactics. Cannabis makes you question authority when it’s illegal and you see how people in power have been lying to you about how dangerous it is. Legal, socially acceptable cannabis just makes you goofy.
You realize that birth control, plan B, and abortions are very much a thing here, right? These “we need them to drink so we can impregnate them” posts always creep me out a bit.
I don’t think the youth of Japan should pop out kids. That’s what the leaders want. The youth want a better life, which if provided, would probably make them want to procreate more (not that they have to).
My point was that cannabis is not gonna have positive effects (my guess) given how things are and how little chance there is for young people to have financial stability and comfort.
This is worse than you think. Most countries don’t criminalize use, only possession. Criminalizing use like Sweden does likely means that even having cannabis in your system is illegal and could lead to fines, criminal record, and jail time. It’s insanely backwards.
What if they consumed cannabis a week before in the legal country?
You are a criminal. Just like when you rape a child in a country where it’s legal (statutory rape based on age) you are held liable in your home country if the AoC is higher than in the country you visited.
Weird ass analogy there 🧐
It’s probably the most widespread and established law around the world. Only the age limits differs, but hopefully backwards countries like most of Europe, South America, China and the Philippines will catch on soon.
I don’t have hopes for the middle east.
Not mostly how this works, it is true that for underage sex many countries do have laws like that, but those are usually special exceptions to the general principle that the laws of the place where you are (or where your actions have an effect) apply and not those of your home country or any arbitrary country.
So if an American drinks a beer in a German biergarten or in a park in france they should be charged with violating the open container law?
In most cases if you are a tourist and are accused of minor crimes you just get deported unless you’ve done something else more serious. Detaining someone on a short term visa is awkward (what if their passport expires while in custody?) and kicking them out of the country accomplishes the same thing as jailing them.
Sweden is nuts. When I moved here, I was shocked. It’s really backwards. Everyone drinks here, but weed is something like heroin to them. They should all smoke weed.
As a swede: Word. It’s backwards as fuck here. The previous government didn’t even want to investigate whether or not to decriminalize, because doing so (investigate, mind you) would “send the wrong signals”. Yeeah fuck science and people’s lives when you have “signals” to worry about.
There is a rather new, more or less scientific-oriented party around in all our EU countries, you might want to look into their platform (VOLT). Not affiliated btw, but they sparked my interest.
(VOLT). Not affiliated btw, but they sparked my interest.
Intentional or not, I’m here for it lol
About 1000V per millimetre air gap, give or take.
Argh :D
No thank you, and I’d really like it if people stopped smoking it in public places. Many marijuana users seem to have very little regard for other people. Absolutely reeks of it at many central stations, on the subway, commuter trains and busses. Quite literally makes me sick. At least most tobacco users have the decency to not ruin enclosed public spaces for the general populace.
At least most tobacco users have the decency to not ruin enclosed public spaces for the general populace.
Because we banned them doing that just recently? And could and probably should do the same if any actual action or progress could be had these days?
Precisely. The fact is it isn’t just tobacco users banned from doing it, but all smokers. Difference is that weed users don’t give a crap.
Hmm… Is that true? It’s not like smoking bans are actually all encompassing its still mostly local precident and business decisions.
I am not sure I have seen someone smoke weed where they couldn’t smoke a cigarette, or where banned a cigarette smoker might illegally light up anyways, other than vapes which are still also in high contention and not exactly banned.I think you just have a stigma and an axe to grind that specifically singles them out because of a internal problem you have.
Anyways, good luck with that.
I hate public smokers with a passion. But you must realize that you have effectively zero exposure to people that contain their smoke by doing it at home or using a method without smoke production. And there could be a lot more of those.
The last line is especially golden for me since I live in the Netherlands so we have plenty of weed being smoked but the vast vast majority of public smoke hinderance is from tobacco smokers. If they decide to smoke in public they have absolutely no shame and will literally do it at places like bus stops and just outside restaurants. Weed smokers rarely do that here. So if I were to believe you it seems to just be correlated to people with shitty attitudes rather than the substance.
But there’s no denying that if everyone would drop alcohol for weed, it would be better. Not because weed is harmless but because alcohol is pretty terrible health wise.
I was complaining about smoking in public places. Precisely because of health reasons smoking in and around public spaces was limited a few years ago. I’m rather sensitive (asthma & more) and I much more often smell weed than tobacco in these types of areas. At the central station almost always. One of the many reasons I’m glad to be able to avoid public transit nowadays. Besides how the smoke of tobacco and weed affects me, I also find the smell nauseating.
Besides, to me it seems pike almost every category of drug users have an excuse for why theirs is “less bad”. Most often with alcohol it’s “well it’s only an issue of people drink too much”. Fact is that almost all drug usage affects peoples behaviour and becomes a nuisance in public spaces.
I feel you in avoiding public transit. That’s where my hate comes from as well. And yes, many people that do these things have have excuses. Because they need to, to justify doing their business in a place where their habit unavoidably harms and frustrates other people. I hate the fact we still allow that so readily as society. Or at least we should restrict it further to the point a normal person doesn’t have to be bothered by people like that in public. It undermines public services to an extent.
But after I no longer needed to use public transit, I did start to see things in a slightly different light. And that’s the only thing I wanted to say. People that are conscientious about enjoying any kind of mind altering substances will choose to do so safely and harmlessly outside of public, or in designated places like clubs specifically for that substance. Harm reduction must be central to substance use. And I know now that many people have that mentality. But that mentality is somewhat threatened exactly because they make sure nobody is bothered by them. It causes the experience to be defined by those people in public places, the loud minority.
When I traveled through Europe, I left Netherlands on a train, and ended up in Sweden with a couple hash joints left. I found a secluded area near train tracks to smoke, and even then it’s like I could feel the illegality of it. It was made worse by the fact that everyone walks or bicycles there, so random passerbys kept coming along making me feel tremendously exposed. 1/10 would not recommend.
On the other hand, smoking a hash joint and chatting with friendly strangers in the weed cafe’s of Amsterdam was sublime, 10/10 definitely recommend.
First week after we moved here - article in local newspaper: Schoolboy caught with drugs scandal. Those frs did drug tests and he had some THC in him. 17 year old. I remember thinking where the F did we move to…
All of this crap stems from one individual named Nils Bejerot, who was the anti drug guy for the government back in the day (he also coined the term Stockholm Syndrome, and was against comic books because he thought they would make children grow up to become violent). He considered drug use to be an infection in society that could spread from person to person, and the only way to stop the infection is a zero tolerance policy and to make society fear drugs. And oh boy did all that propaganda work. Still today, 36 years after his death. Through that lense, the article you mention “makes sense”. It’s incredible the effects one person can have.
I always figured the stories about Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Germany etc being liberal paradises were simplistic and overblown, but it’s still surprising to see such a backwards position here.
The only thing good about Japan is their transit system.
Their cities do look clean af. The people there seem to have a higher baseline level of mutual respect than most Western nations. Unless you’re a foreigner.
Where do you hear those stories?
You may need to re-evaluate where you’re getting your information from
Japan? Liberal Paradise? Since when???
Japan has been highly patriarchal, hating of foreigners, especially gaijin, and fairly conservative overall if only from a Shinto/Tao/Buddhist perspective than a Christian perspecitve like the rest of the west.
The weabos who dream of living in Japan would be fairly ostracized unless they spoke perfect Japanese.
There are growing trends in the youth, but their conservative patriarchy is still holding strong for now.
On a side note, the massive amount of US debt Japan owns combined with the Yen carry trade means there could be a dramatic economic/societal shift in a short period of time, were anything volatile to happen.
Japan? Liberal Paradise? Since when???
My thoughts exactly. It is left of the US on a few things like social safety net and healthcare, but mostly the same (which, compared to much of the western world is still quite far to the right).
hating of foreigners, especially gaijin
Wat? What do you think that word means?
would be fairly ostracized unless they spoke perfect Japanese.
Source?
There are growing trends in the youth, but their conservative patriarchy is still holding strong for now.
Getting them to vote would help. Obviously anecdotal, but a lot of young adults I knew didn’t vote.
I’m from the US and have been living in Japan almost a decade. I don’t speak perfect Japanese by any stretch, but I can generally handle myself unless we get into certain medical jargon or legalese. I own a house and a small farm. Your premise on being ostracized is false, however; racists gonna racist so policies or people that exclude others aren’t generally going to give a shit if the person speaks flawless Japanese. On the other hand, I think the internet has a kinda warped view of what living here is like and how foreigners are treated. There is racism, particularly in trying to get an apartment. I’ve also been treated like a normal person more than I’ve ever been treated like some outside or zoo exhibition.
Maybe excitement I get when I speak Japanese even just OK is a beautiful thing compared to France and Quebec trying to speak French.
But I will say South Korea is racist as fuck and being white and talking to a girl will get you and the girl attacked but worse of all mostly the girl.
And yeah clubs, dating, and housing in Japan are not great but it’s definitely as with always a nuanced gray that is hard to explain to people who like a simple answer.
Don’t know about the rest, but the South Korea part is simply complete bs
Wasn’t in 2015 when I hit on a girl for helping me navigate the subway system.
In fairness, “gaijin” is any foreigner. And a lot of laws in Japan are very much based on warped Christian values (can’t imagine who they got that from…).
But yeah. One of my best friends is Japanese American and the way she sums it up is: You know you truly understand the culture of Japan if you realize why you only want to visit for a few weeks at a time.
With bonus points for anyone who can read quickly realizing why the general stance toward APA is “Only if you get a REALLY good deal”
This is the first time I’ve even heard the idea of Japan being a “liberal paradise”. I thought it was widely know Japan was super conservative.
Great. Now the Korean mafia can get busy. 🤦🏽
What a wierd fucking reason to not currently punish weed consumption and then to use such an antiquated reason to criminalize it. The whole article read like something out of 1920’s-1950’s America. So dumb.
It’s gonna create a black market
Japan sees record cannabis cases in 2023, 70% among young people
They would rather have you drink Japan urges its young people to drink more to boost economy
Possession of marijuana is already illegal in Japan. Now they’re sending anyone to prison that’s tests positive for thc metabolites. Boycott these fascists, don’t buy stuff from Japan and don’t support Japanese companies if you can help it.
That’s a misleading headline. Makes it sound like 70% of young people use cannabis. The figure is that of people who were charged with cannabis related crimes, 70% were in their 20s. About 1.8% of their population had ever used cannabis in 2019.
I told a guy in Tokyo we smoke weed walking down the street in America and he looked at me like I was insane.
I thought they already did that. (Didn’t a number of touring rock stars, including IIRC one of the Beatles, get busted for having it?)
Use vs. Possession
Possession is the behavior that’s typically illegal, but use is legally tolerated because people can be exposed to it (the article gives the example of farmers being exposed while producing legal hemp).
Great way to regress in societal development.
A population that old and conservative loves shit like that. Also, the government urging young people to instead drink more alcohol sounds like something straight out of the Soviet Unions playbook.
Drunk people might accidentally get pregnant and help with the population. Really an obvious move
FAS
Alcohol leads to fucking and they need more babies. From a logic perspective it makes perfect sense.
No one smokes weed then gets overly horny.
The original propaganda against weed, called Reefer Madness, was all about how black men would smoke weed and then literally couldn’t stop themselves from raping white women because they got so horny.
(I guess I have to point out that of course that isn’t true)
No one smokes weed then gets overly horny.
yes they do lol
No one smokes weed then gets overly horny.
Yes we do.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that… Sex on psychedelic substances is quite an experience, compared to alcohol which numbs.
Weed is not a psychedelic.
Ok, I was not precise in my wording – but THC clearly is a psychoactive substance through which people can observe profound experiences and have intense physical and emotional perceptions.
I can only talk for myself but never in my life did I have sex more crazy, borderline fucked up, as that one time me and my partner smoked weed before jumping in the sheets.
Alcohol on the other hand turns me into a useless sack of meat. Literally the end times for any boner of mine.
No one smokes weed then gets overly horny.
Ummm… Yes?
If alcohol consumption fixed declining birth rates, Japan wouldn’t have an aging population and Russia wouldn’t have been facing a demographic collapse even before the Ukraine invasion.
This isn’t about boosting sex, it’s about being a conservative policy counterweight to opening the door to legalizing medicines derived from cannabis.
My guess is that it’s a result of an internal NJP compromise between center right and hard right factions: only agreeing to allow liberalized medical cannabis policy, if the law also increased the scope of, and penalties for, recreational uses.
But that’s just my assumption based on my limited understanding of Japan’s post-war uniparty government.
Weed is an aphrodisiac though?
Indeed, especially for women in my limited experience. Hmm, do I want to really commit SuicideByWords by mentioning a small sample size?
Having one woman as a friend is still more than none.
Yes.
Also alcohol is a depressant. That’s how “whiskey dick” happens.
Also alcohol is leading cause of overdose. How are more dead people going to make babies?
It would be hard to quantify the effect but you also have the alcohol induces risky behavior aspect that would lead to more births though. Somewhat balancing your impotence and toxicology effects at least. Overall probably still a net negative.
Man, high sex is so good though. For me, it’s like I get tunnel vision around the sensuality, enveloped by sexual desire, where the only thing that exists is my partner, and for that time we are purely sexual beings. Every touch elicits goosebumps, every nerve at attention, like my entire body is a sexual organ in the throes of hedonistic pleasure. I never feel more connected to my partner, and for some reason it also lends itself really well to aftercare; like, once we’ve cleaned up and/or caught our breath, I just want to cuddle and continue to feel the safety and comfort of their warmth.
Truly the best kind of sex imo
Wait till you try it on hallucinogenic.
That straight up sounds like a terrible time, I’m not gonna lie
Could be amazing, could be horrible. Just like anything on hallucinogens.
Depends on how you deal with them. I quite enjoyed sex on acid, when I did acid
Then what’s with the 420-girls porn?
We definitely have issues with alcoholism here. I think part of it is that a ton of small businesses (as well as larger ones) are ones that survive on alcohol revenue. I remember when I lived in the US, a lot of bars and breweries would fight legalization claiming it would hurt their business. I think they are stuck in the mindset that no one will leave the house or something, but that’s just speculation on my part.
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If someone from the UK is saying this, my god it must be bad.
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Korea is famous for their drinking
The UK doesn’t compare, Russia and Ireland are behind them
Idiotic position in 2024.
Idiotic position in 2024 BC too.
1a. It’s a relatively small incentive to get people to emigrate, particularly the young.
(my bold)
In 1985, the People’s Republic of China joined the Convention on Psychotropic Substances and identified marijuana as a dangerous narcotic drug, and illegal to possess or use it. The penalty for marijuana possession in China is disputed from various sources, but according to the Law on Public Security Administration Punishments, marijuana smokers shall be detained for 10 to 15 days and fined a maximum of 2,000 yuan.[16][17] However, the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes (hemp) has never been prohibited in China.[1]
On another hand, cannabis seeds have been continuously listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia[18] and hemp has never been prohibited in the history of the country.[19]
