Local News

On Aug. 27, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare conducted simultaneous raids of head shops in Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka Prefectures, and for the first time, ordered those shops found to be carrying so-called dangerous drugs to submit them for testing and suspend sales in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. The shops cannot sell the substances in question until the test results come back. Dangerous drugs, previously called quasi-legal drugs, refer to drugs that generate the same effects as illicit substances but whose chemical makeup is technically different. The health ministry has been stepping up enforcement since the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law was revised in 2013 to allow regulation of dangerous drugs. Shop owners that continue selling substances in contravention of the ministry’s order face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to ¥1 million. Those owners who refuse to submit products for testing are subject to a fine of ¥500,000. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 8/28

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