Cannabis reform efforts have made significant gains in many parts of the world in recent decades. However, as far as the cannabis movement has come, there is still a lot of work to be done to end cannabis prohibition, with one unfortunate example being in Japan, where authorities set a record for cannabis arrests last year.

“Police arrested a record 6,832 people for marijuana-related cases in 2025, with 70% of them under the age of 29 and increasingly accessing the drug through social media, National Police Agency data showed.” The Japan Times stated in its local coverage.

“The NPA data, released on Thursday, showed the figure more than doubled from 2017, when it was 3,008. Among the 6,800-plus people, 1,373 were 19 years old and younger while 3,633 were in their 20s.” the outlet also reported.

Several countries have adopted national medical or adult-use cannabis policy modernization measures since 2017, but Japan has gone in the opposite direction in many ways. The rise in cannabis arrests in Japan is not a coincidence and is part of a focused nationwide crackdown on cannabis activity by the nation’s government.

In late 2023, lawmakers in Japan approved a measure that lifted the nation’s ban on cannabis-derived medications, paving the way for products like Epidiolex to be prescribed to patients. However, part of the measure also imposed stiff penalties for the use of non-approved cannabis products. Someone caught consuming illegal cannabis products of any kind in Japan now faces a penalty of up to seven years in prison.

The harsher consumer law in Japan was approved after concerns were expressed by lawmakers regarding a ‘spike’ in consumption rates in Japan and a rising rate of arrest for people caught possessing cannabis, particularly young adults.

In the most recent year for which data is available, Japan experienced a 21.5% increase in measured cannabis consumption compared to the previous year. While that may sound alarming to some lawmakers inside and outside of Japan, consider the fact that less than 2% of people in Japan report having consumed cannabis during their entire lives.

For context, 41.5% in Canada report having consumed cannabis during their lifetime, and 44.2% in the United States. The double-digit increase in the consumption rate in Japan is more indicative of how low the overall baseline consumption rate was to begin with than it is indicative of a cannabis use epidemic.

Even non-intoxicating cannabinoids are being targeted by Japanese authorities. Last month, Japan’s Health Ministry announced a ban on cannabinol (CBN). Cannabinol has risen in popularity across the globe as a wellness product that some adults find helps with improving sleep. Banning CBN is illogical. Prohibition is a harmful, failed public policy wherever it exists, including in Japan.