Although marijuana use in Japan occurs at dramatically lower rates than in Europe and the United States, police and at least one newspaper are raising the alarm. On Saturday, the newspaper Mainichi reported, as its headline put it, Japan Grappling With Cannabis Crisis.

The newspaper cited a number of prominent recent marijuana busts in announcing the crisis. They have included university students, sumo wrestlers, actors, and professional sportsman, and almost all were for possession or use of small amounts of marijuana. It also cited an increase in the number of cultivation arrests.

Here are the hard numbers behind the "crisis": Since 1998, the number of people arrested for marijuana cultivation has increased four-fold... to a whopping 192, according to the Kinki branch of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Compliance and Narcotics Division. Last year, police arrested 2,373 people on marijuana charges. By comparison, in the United States, which has roughly 2 1/2 times the population of Japan, more than 800,000 people were arrested on marijuana charges last year.

Under Japan's Cannabis Control Law, possession of even small amounts of marijuana can garner a five-year prison sentence, and selling it can earn up to seven years. There is no formal sanction for consumption, but the Health Ministry pointed out that people smoking together can and have been charged with joint possession. (No pun intended.)

Mainichi relied heavily on the Health Ministry narcs for its information. "There's no need for syringes, and it has this sense of cool to it. For newcomers to drugs, the barrier is low," the ministry said, attempting to explain the plant's allure. The ministry also warned that THC "can cause hallucinations" and that marijuana "is also known as a gateway drug."

Seeking to balance its account, the newspaper also came up with a Nagasaki International University professor of pharmaceutical resources who reprised a few more old canards. "It's more carcinogenic than tobacco, so to say there's no health effect is a big mistake," warned Yukihiro Shoyama. "Repeated use can also cause a motivational syndrome, similar to chronic lethargy, and deterioration of memory."

And if that weren't bad enough, the ministry narcs emphasized the dangers of getting busted. "Arrest, dismissal, expulsion from school... With the risk of collapsing those things that make up your life, isn't the risk of smoking cannabis too high? Think it over, and you should know the answer," said one investigator.

It looks like it's time for a Japanese NORML affiliate.