Japan, much like Korea, is a nation with rather strict drug laws. Like the other three countries so far, which have all been wealthy liberal democracies, Japan has the full capacity to exercise whatever policy it chooses, and so chooses to strictly prohibit drug use from every angle, including presence in blood, in the case of methamphetamine. Like any good nation in the shadow of Confucian civilisation, it recognises that self-harm is collective harm, and pursues infringement with the concern one would expect from such an understanding. Many commentators insist that Japanese success is the result of their culture, in some nebulous, often absolutist fashion. But culture is after all nothing more than learned behaviour, and as this series will hopefully demonstrate, the law is as great a teacher of public morality as any instrument available to society. The Japanese have had their drug epidemics, generally caused by loopholes in law, which have allowed undocumented drugs to proliferate. These have been stamped out with a vengeance.
Why Ban Drugs? Part V: Japan
Why Ban Drugs? Part V: Japan
Why Ban Drugs? Part V: Japan
Japan, much like Korea, is a nation with rather strict drug laws. Like the other three countries so far, which have all been wealthy liberal democracies, Japan has the full capacity to exercise whatever policy it chooses, and so chooses to strictly prohibit drug use from every angle, including presence in blood, in the case of methamphetamine. Like any good nation in the shadow of Confucian civilisation, it recognises that self-harm is collective harm, and pursues infringement with the concern one would expect from such an understanding. Many commentators insist that Japanese success is the result of their culture, in some nebulous, often absolutist fashion. But culture is after all nothing more than learned behaviour, and as this series will hopefully demonstrate, the law is as great a teacher of public morality as any instrument available to society. The Japanese have had their drug epidemics, generally caused by loopholes in law, which have allowed undocumented drugs to proliferate. These have been stamped out with a vengeance.