Pubdate: Sat, 23 Aug 2014
Source: Japan Times (Japan)
Copyright: 2014 The Japan Times
Contact:  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/755
Author: Masami Ito

DEALING WITH ADDICTION: JAPAN'S DRUG PROBLEM

With Popular Singer-songwriter Ryo Aska Appearing In Court On Drug
Charges On Thursday, We Examine The Darker Side Of Substance Abuse

Some kid shot up a dose again tonight Pushed back by his other self
Even if you were to buy your dream You need self-control No one talks
about hopes and dreams All that's there is something better, something
new, a better way The name is "Kicks Street" - the city of desire

- - Lyrics from "Kicks Street" (1998), Ryo Aska

Who knows what is going through singer-songwriter Ryo Aska's mind as
he awaits his first appearance in court on drugs charges in Tokyo on
Thursday. Does he have any regrets over his alleged possession of
illegal substances? If he did use such substances, does he have any
desire to quit? Or will his 1998 song prove to be something of a
premonition?

The pop star, whose real name is Shigeaki Miyazaki, made headlines in
May when he was arrested for the alleged possession and use of illicit
substances. Newspapers and TV programs universally decried the horrors
associated with stimulants, suggesting such drugs are eating away at
the fabric of society.

Every time a celebrity such as Aska is arrested on drug charges, news
outlets whip themselves into a frenzy about how dangerous such
substances are. Fueled by overwrought media coverage, the public
typically gets behind the police in pushing for tougher drug-related
legislation.

But little, if any, light is shed on the darker side of drugs -
addiction.

"Using drugs is akin to committing suicide little by little every
day," says Yoji Miura, director of Drug Addiction Rehabilitation
Center (DARC). "So many people have come and gone in my life that my
heart has become numb and my tears have dried up."

In 2013, 12,951 people were arrested in Japan on drug-related charges.
Most were charged with the possession or use of stimulants broadly
called methamphetamine. It's virtually impossible to gauge from this
figure how many people in the country are currently struggling with an
addiction, but the health ministry says the number of arrests is just
the tip of the iceberg.

Miura himself is a recovering addict. Bullied as a child for being
overweight, he realized his size enabled him to fight back and he
began hanging out with a rough crowd. He started sniffing glue to get
high but, eventually, started using marijuana and methamphetamine. He
was arrested twice before being sentenced to a year in prison.

"When you are first in prison, you think you're never going to use
drugs again because you never want to go back there," Miura said. "By
the time you are released, however, you tell yourself to make sure
you're never caught again."

That was when Miura was first introduced to DARC.

Established in Tokyo in 1985, DARC now has 57 branches with 78
facilities all over Japan. Most members live in DARC dormitories and
they generally attend two internal meetings and one external Narcotics
Anonymous meeting every day. Most employees at each facility are
recovering addicts, too.

"DARC is the only place addicts can be honest," Miura said. "Once
you've spent time in prison, you have to lie all the time: when you're
looking for a job or a place to live, or meeting new people."

Stimulants have effectively dominated the domestic drug scene since
the end of World War II. Chemist Nagayoshi Nagai first synthesized
methamphetamine from ephedrine in 1893, and people would primarily use
it to recover from fatigue.

Philopon, produced by Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co. (now Sumitomo
Dainippon Pharma), was used as a pick-me-up during World War II for
military personnel who needed to stay alert. The name is said to have
originated from the Greek word philoponus, which means "he who loves
labor."

Military stocks of the methamphetamine fell into civilian hands in the
aftermath of World War II, leading to widespread abuse. At its peak in
1954, police reports estimated there were 550,000 addicts in the
country, with around 2 million people having tried the drug at some
point in their life.

The Stimulant Control Law was enacted in 1951, banning the production,
import, possession or use of methamphetamine across the board. A
subsequent police crackdown meant that the number of arrests over the
substance fell dramatically from 55,664 in 1954 to 271 in 1958, the
lowest number in postwar history. However, stimulants are strongly
addictive, and the number of arrests has remained steadily above
10,000 since 1976.

That said, drug use in Japan appears to be significantly lower than
the figures reported abroad. According to statistics compiled by the
health ministry in February, 0.4 percent of the Japanese population
aged between 15 and 64 years old have tried stimulants at least once
in their life. In the United States, 5.1 percent of the population
over the age of 12 has tried meth at least once. Meanwhile, 41.9
percent of Americans have tried marijuana at least once in their life,
compared to 1.2 percent of the Japanese population.

Nobuya Naruse, deputy chief at Saitama Prefectural Psychiatric
Hospital, says police in Japan often brag about being extremely
vigilant when it comes to drugs but show little interest in treating
addicts once they're caught.

"Japan is very good at regulating drug-related crime - one of the
leading nations in the world - and depends on regulation to keep the
crime rate down in terms of drug use," Naruse says. "But that is why
it has fallen way behind in terms of the treatment and recovery of
addiction."

More recently, a new problem is changing the outlook on drugs in the
country: "loophole drugs."

In addition to the Stimulant Control Law, other drug-related
legislation includes the Cannabis Control Law, the Narcotics and
Psychotropics Control Law and the Opium Law. The Metropolitan Police
Department is, ineffectively, using the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law to
deal with this new variation of drugs.

Loophole drugs typically include a mixture of chemicals that are not
regulated by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law but can have similar
effects to illegal drugs such as methamphetamine and marijuana. The
possession of these compounds is not strictly illegal, but Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has declared war on such law-evading drugs after a
recent series of car accidents that were allegedly caused by drivers
under the influence of such substances.

Naruse expressed concern over such drugs, which he said were extremely
dangerous and difficult to treat because of the complex mixture of
substances. Alarmingly, the latest statistics show that the number of
patients at Saitama Prefectural Psychiatric Hospital who had been
committed in 2013 over an addiction to loophole drugs outnumbered
those who had been addicted to methamphetamine for the first time in
history.

"(Loophole drugs) drugs have become the most dangerous drug in Japan,"
Naruse says. "They are several times more dangerous than
methamphetamine and 10 times more effective than marijuana."

The health ministry says that more than 1,370 chemicals have now been
outlawed - a sharp increase from the 68 that had been banned in 2012.
But every time the health ministry bans one compound, a new one finds
its way onto the market, turning the whole exercise into an endless
game of cat-and-mouse for authorities.

Sakae Komori, a lawyer who specializes in drug cases, says the
government should speed up the process of outlawing the substances in
the first place. A health ministry official said that it typically
takes about three to six months to designate a drug.

Komori, however, says that simply speeding up the designation process
won't solve the problem on its own, and governments in Europe and the
U.S. are battling similar difficulties.

"As there is a massive global market supporting these synthetic drugs,
authorities must be prepared to engage in a prolonged war," Komori
says. "Any series of measures must first look at strengthening the
capacity of analyzing and evaluating the drugs."

With the rapid spread of synthetic drugs as well as the unchanging
number of arrests over methamphetamine, authorities are expected to
crack down harder.

Recidivism is also a major headache, with statistics showing that 60
percent of convictions for stimulants are repeat offenders. A 2009
survey compiled by the Justice Ministry shows that 30 percent of
suspects convicted for stimulants were jailed again for a related crime.

Naruse, a 20-year veteran on treating drug addicts, says the primary
focus needs to shift from penalties to treatment. Naruse says the
country's famous catch phrase, "Dame. Zettai." (similar to the "Just
Say No" campaign in the U.S. in the 1980s) simply doesn't work anymore.

"Not everyone becomes an addict," Naruse says. "It is the lonely,
people with low self-esteem and have a strong sense of anxiety about
being disliked by others who typically become addicted. Publicly
attacking people such as Aska is not going to help at all. ... These
types of people have already lost so much along the way."

Experts suggest there is already a trend in Western nations to shift
away from harsh punishment over "victimless crimes" such as the
possession and use of illegal drugs. For example, many drug courts in
the U.S. are now part of the diversion program, a type of sentencing
that offers offenders a chance to avoid criminal charges.

Komori, who has defended more than 1,000 drug cases, says it probably
isn't realistic to import exactly the same system in the country from
the United States. Nevertheless, it's still an overall objective worth
striving for. "Correctional facilities greatly damage the relationship
that the offenders have with society and I don't think it is an
appropriate punishment for drug crimes," Komori says. "I think
criminals should be treated within the community."

In 2013, a revision of the Criminal Law introduced a new option for
sentencing narcotics users that offers convicts suspended sentences
and probation. Authorities hope the new procedure will allow addicts
to be rehabilititated back into society and, ultimately, reduce recidivism.

However, a number of experts say there are not enough private
facilities to take care of the former addicts who have spent time
behind bars, expressing doubt over whether such a system can be
effective in the longer term.

DARC founder Tsuneo Kondo says putting addicts in jail in the first
place will not help prevent drug crimes or reduce recidivism.

A recovering addict himself, Kondo expresses frustration that no one
seems to understand that addiction is a disease and that Japan's
solution to drug crimes is to put the offenders in prison and then
release them, automatically expecting them to stay sober without any
additional support.

"Drugs are a sign of pain," Kondo says. "The pain could come from
anywhere - from stress or work or the loss of a loved one - and anyone
can become addicted. Once you become an addict, you have to deal with
it for the rest of your life."

(Akira Okubo contibuted to this report)

The first of a special two-part series on addiction. Join us next
Sunday for a special report on the country's drinking problem.

'I still get angry all of a sudden when I am talking about my past':
former drug addict

Shigeo Nomura

Shigeo Nomura is a 66-year-old former gangster. He has spent about 40
years of his life doing all sorts of drugs, including marijuana,
cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and, more recently, so-called
loophole drugs.

Nomura has completed eight separate stints in prison. He would usually
return to his yakuza franchise after rejoining society and start using
drugs again, but found that his gang had disbanded after his most
recent release. With nowhere to go, he found Drug Addiction
Rehabilitation Center (DARC) and has been sober for a year and four
months. It's the first time he's been clean since he started doing
drugs four decades ago.

He is separated from his ex-wife and child, although he keeps in touch
with both of them by phone. His young girlfriend, however, dumped him
and disappeared. He took this opportunity to quit drugs, alcohol and
cigarettes.

"It's easy to quit inside the prison walls," Nomura says. "This time,
I've managed to stay clean by creating an imaginary wall about common
sense and the dangers of drugs. It's hard to say what has been my
moral support. I am living day by day, just floating by."

Naofumi Kubota

Naofumi Kubota is a 43-year-old former salaryman who has been sober
for four months. He had a wife he idolized and a stable job, but lost
everything after becoming addicted to inhaling poppers and gas.

"My wife was the light of my life and I was the darkness," Kubota
says, speaking quietly. "I was able to maintain balance because she
was there. I was completely dependent on her. After she left, I just
wanted to die."

Kubota said he quit his job and went on welfare. He spent every day of
his life abusing drugs in an attempt to kill himself. At one point, he
had 400 or 500 empty cans of gas in his small one-room apartment.

Realizing he wasn't strong enough to take that final plunge, he
decided the surest way to die was to get sick - with HIV. He hung out
in gay districts, had sex with men and, soon enough, he got what he
wanted. He now has full-blown AIDS.

"Regrets? I don't know," he says. "I haven't recovered (from my
addiction) and a part of me is laughing at myself, thinking I have
found the perfect disease - because I will never get better."

Shigeru Saito

Shigeru Saito is a 41-year-old former bartender and a recovering
alcoholic. He has been sober for two years and four months after
serving time in prison twice for becoming violent while
intoxicated.

While he has dabbled with illicit substances, his principal weakness
has always been alcohol. He would drink from early in the morning,
chugging back a few secretly during work hours. Once drunk, he became
physically violent. Saito's parents disowned him after his arrest and
he had nowhere to turn.

He was introduced to DARC by a social worker when he went to apply for
welfare after being released from jail for the second time. Saito
admitted he felt indignant at first, and refused to be lumped together
with other addicts who had abused illegal substances. "I had a bias
against drug addicts at first," Saito says. "Not anymore. Alcohol may
be legal ... but it doesn't really matter. Alcohol is also a drug."

Joji Itoi

Joji Itoi is a 33-year-old trainer at DARC who has been sober for
seven years. He started inhaling lighter fuel when he was 14 before
turning to marijuana, Ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine.

He was completely addicted to drugs by the time he turned 19 years old
and was committed to a mental institution for treatment. He spent
three months in the institution every year, but would immediately
start using drugs again as soon as he was released. He stole money
from his parents and even helped run an illegal gambling ring to earn
money to satisfy his habit.

He was arrested at the age of 26, and found that his family and
friends didn't want to have anything to do with him. With few
alternatives open to him, he turned to DARC.

Itoi admits he still has trouble reconciling with his past and he
hasn't seen his family in years. While his mother has since died, he
still sends his father a New Year's card every December. "A part of me
wants to apologize, but for some reason I still get angry all of a
sudden when I am talking about my past," Itoi says. "Some little word
triggers anger inside me. I don't think I am ready to see my family
just yet."

Pseudonyms have been used for all DARC members featured above except
for Joji Itoi.

The hard facts on drugs

- - About 50 percent of all drug offenders in Japan are involved in a
gang.

- - 1.6 percent of the Japanese population have tried drugs at least
once in their life.

- - 41.9 percent of Americans have tried marijuana at least once in
their life, compared to 1.2 percent of the Japanese population.

- - About 80 percent of all drug charges filed by prosecutors in Japan
involve stimulants.

- - The number of charges involving the possession or sale of stimulants
is decreasing, but the number of suspects aged over 35 years old is
increasing.

(Compiled by Akira Okubo)  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D