title: The history and current state of drug abuse in Japan.
abstract: Drug abuse in Japan began after World War II and has been characterized by three epidemics of methamphetamine abuse; in addition, solvent abuse has been prominent for a long time. Since 1995, with the beginning of the third epidemic of methamphetamine abuse, drug abuse or dependence in Japan changed, with a marked decrease in solvent abuse, stabilization of methamphetamine abuse, an increase in the abuse of such drugs as cannabis or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (which do not have high potential of causing drug-induced psychosis), and the emergence of designer drugs. Furthermore, the abuse of medical drugs such as Ritalin became a major issue in 2007. These changes reveal an increase in the abuse of drugs that do not as easily produce a psychotic state, underlain with a shift from personal conduct that leads to arrest to conduct that does not. Japan, therefore, needs to deal with drug abuse and dependence using not only a medical model, but also a criminal model as well.
authors.affiliation: National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Drug Dependence Research, Kodaira, Japan. kwada@ncnp.go.jp
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history* / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D008694:Methamphetamine