JJapan

‘Social morals are dying’: Japan’s under-20s are getting high like never before

  • March 5, 2026

‘Social morals are dying’: Japan’s under-20s are getting high like never before

by teamworldunity

36 comments

  1. But the normalization of alcohol and chain smoking in society is perfectly acceptable.

  2. I can’t help but laugh after the Shogakukan scal of publisher hiring 2 convicted PDF r*pists and covering it up. Being able to read Japanese make it all worst seeing all Japanese authors, artists and fans defending it

  3. Good. Hopefully it helps then wake up and realize that life isn’t all about work

  7. Alcohol and tobacco are literally worse for you objectively but people will freak out about weed.

  8. This line: **“1,373 people under the age of 20 were arrested for cannabis offences in Japan in 2025.”**

    Do you know how many people live in Japan? That number is a joke compared to the total population.

  10. Has anyone in government here actually been asked why weed is the devil but getting absolutely smashed in public is the Japanese tradition?

    Any comment at all?

    Edit to make the guy who downvoted me angry:

    PSA for people living in Japan:

    Google CBD and zeolite. Enjoy. But don’t enjoy outside your home.

  13. Oh look, the freakin’ demoralizing China news outlet from the CCP.

  15. Law ≠ morality.

    Anyone can be on one side of the law, or the other. Good? Bad? That depends on the person and their actions.

  17. i see ppl shitfaced drunk on the streets and we as a society never call alcohol immoral. It kills more than weed ever has. 

  18. These numbers hardly sound like a crisis. But I do wonder if, should youth drug use increase enough, the historical Japanese stance of “No! Zettai ni,” (batsu gesture) doesn’t shoot the government’s anti-drug stance in the foot. I don’t want a people much under 20 smoking weed when their brains are still developing, but surely if all their lives they’ve been fed propaganda that one marijuamajam will destroy their family and then they find out that’s not actually true, it’s going to be really hard for authorities to regain any of that trust for a more moderate and reasonable anti-drug message.

  20. Discovering adulthood is 40+ years of work with a few holidays sprinkled in.

  21. Dying, not bc ppl are getting more right wing extremist, xenophobic, supremacist, nationalist, misogynistic, alcoholic and jingoistic—no, def not bc this is happening.

    It’s bc ppl are getting high.
    Ffs 🤦‍♂️

  23. The whole reason people gravitate towards it is because society is so sick, people are overworked, underpaid, under appreciated, terrible economy, terrible policies and politicians, hate at an all time high, love at an all time low. Can you blame people for wanting a break from it all?

  24. They should worry about the concerning amount of visibly high schoolers holding “Girls Bar” signs near Ueno Station instead of demonising a medicinal plant.

  26. Smoking weed in Japan? Worst offence immaginable.

    Eating DXM pills meant for cough suppression for 12 dollars a box at any pharmacy? Completely legal.

  27. “Contrary to expectation, a major study found that weed use among minors was lower in states where the drug was legal.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/health/marijuana-weed-adolescents-coley.html](https://archive.ph/Ebm3d)

  28. To each their own, in certain places all over the world it’s normal. It’s all about perspective, upbringing, and having an open mind to respect other’s decisions so you gain respect in areas others may not agree with you.

  30. I would love a reality show where they took a Japanese person and dropped them in any hood in America.

    So spoiled. They have no idea what real crime looks like.

  31. If Japan ever were to legalize cannabis (which I highly doubt they would do any time soon), I imagine they would probably place some kind of restriction on public consumption. I don’t think they would be fond of the olfactory nuisance that legalized cannabis tends to bring. One of my favorite things about Japan when I visited was the fact that I never had to smell cannabis. I never smelled tobacco either for that matter other than the brief moment when I passed by the entrance of a pachinko parlor.

  32. What a bullshit article. Also from SCMP. Not only trying to paint Japan in a bad light, but also emphasizing stupid ideas like recreational drug use is somehow killing societal norms.

  33. May be a weird metric, but I’ve been reading manga for a long time, like from I was 10 for over 40 years, about 30 of that in Japanese. You used to **never** get drug reference in manga. Like it didn’t exist. You got murder, rape, literal genocide, but no recreational drugs.

    And then you get all the “drugs are bad, mmkay?” content started showing up.

    And recently, like last 3-4 years or so, you started getting manga with incidental recreational drug use references. I remember one that followed women convicts in prison and one of them was there for MJ and she was harping on how she can’t wait to smoke again when she gets out.

    Again, a pretty weird metric but I do believe that manga reflects the shift in the societal norm.

  34. idk man, weed would probably help them relax a lil bit. always wild to me how stigmatized and illegal weed is in japan and korea (and other asian countries but mostly those two)

  35. It’s way less damaging than alcohol and helps with relaxation and creativity.

  36. LMFAO, what year is it? Who links pot usage to ‘social morals’.

    How else could one react stupidly to cultural shifts?

    I know, imprison them for it! Render their lives into travesties and separate them into a social outcast class.

    You know what else would be smart? Let it slide for the wealthy and socially elite who can get away with. And make it doubly impactful on the poor and social outliers.

    Killing it.

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