Police in Fukuoka have arrested the 36-year-old driver of a car that collided into several cars, leaving one person in serious condition and 14 others with minor injuries on Wednesday night.
Police said the male driver told them he had been smoking a herb -- one of the so-called "loophole drugs," Fuji TV reported.
According to police, a patrol officer who had pulled the driver over, noticed a cloud of white smoke exit the windows. Suddenly the car pulled out from the side of the road and drove off. As the suspect sped through a red light, he collided with several other cars.
After careening into cars in his own lane, and then several oncoming cars, the driver finally stopped after hitting a guardrail on the side of the road. Overall, 10 cars were involved in the incident, Fuji reported. Along with 12 people in other cars, and one pedestrian, the suspect and a passenger in his car also sustained injuries.
Police were quoted as saying that the driver and his passenger were rambling incoherently. However, the driver later admitted he had been smoking herbs, police said.
The smoking of “haabu” (herbs), or loophole drugs, sometimes containing hallucinogens, has been a growing problem in Japan in recent years. The unregulated products have caused serious health problems, and even death, while the law has been struggling to catch up.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is planning to change the legal designation of 775 quasi-legal drugs in a plan to combat the growing use of these “herbs.”
© Japan Today
31 Comments
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the_odeman
Would you be making a joke about it if one personally seriously injured was related to you?
Wakarimasen
anyhoo, seems that his smoking herb wasn't harming anyone until the 'satsu bothered him and spooked him and he tried to escape in a panic....... My guess it was thyme.....
nath
The smoking of “haabu” (herbs), or loophole drugs, sometimes containing hallucinogens, has been a growing problem in Japan in recent years. The unregulated products have caused serious health problems, and even death, while the law has been struggling to catch up.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is planning to change the legal designation of 775 quasi-legal drugs in a plan to combat the growing use of these “herbs.”
The war on "almost drugs"?? will be as effective as the current war on drugs is. that is, not much.
WA4TKG
This stuff is GARBAGE, it does NOTHING really to get you stoned aside from you ingesting basically POISON, which of course is going to affect your bodily function (brain, breathing, heart rate, not to mention blood pressure). I've smoked Cannabis for DECADES, off & on, and BELIEVE me, this trash they are smoking is just that, TRASH. DON'T do it. (I tried it, and it does nothing for you, and it's too expensive too).
Hide Suzuki
I know it won't happen in Japan but incidents like this are the reason why we should legalize marijuana. Some of the imitation herbs are way more dangerous than real weed, which is pretty safe .
Dutchduck
mmm it was a rich guy too, he totaled that beautiful Range Rover completely!
Frungy
Might I humbly suggest that perhaps the problem was more related to a cloud of white smoke obscuring the driver's vision than any negative effects of the herbs?
Still, arrest these morons for chronic stupidity and the inability to realise that opening a window when burning something in your car is just common sense. Scratch that... arrest them for chronic stupidity and not realising that burning ANYTHING in your car while driving is a bad idea.
Thunderbird2
That's nothing to be proud of...
There speaks a pot-smoker, as I suspect are most of those who are pro-weed.
papigiulio
This, im afraid this kind of incidents will only let Japanese people frown more and more upon marihuana. Gonna take a long long time before marihuana gets legalized here I guess.
Apsara
Nope. The TV footage shows the guy, who was stopped at first, smashing his car between two other cars to get past them into an intersection, then careening across it. Not the behaviour of someone with all their wits about them- it looks absolutely insane.
Frungy
Sounds like a normal day in the small town where I live. People love parking on the sidewalks... on both sides of the road... except that there is no sidewalk, so they just park in the road, leaving one just enough space to squeeze a single k-car down the middle... or a white-plate if you tuck your mirrors in.
Kuribo1
Do not want any of this garbage on any street I live on, real or fake. Not necessary, not useful and this just goes to show benefits nobody at all. All this garbage does is harm.
nath
So let's ban these and the world will be a better place? I prefer the NZ approach.
Jimizo
I don't have a problem with booze, pot or this 'loophole' drug ( I'm actually quite fond of the first two ). I do have a serious problem with idiots who get behind the wheel under the influence of any of these.
Alex Einz
the only reason marijuana is illegal here is due to US drug policies back after the war.. now when those policies are disappearing in the US and becoming legal isn't it time for Japanese government to start rethinking the subject ? It would definitely do more good, and could even be politically healthy as part of redoing the constitution ? Will help them mask bunch of serious financial issues too and less alcohol related violence.
the_odeman
Dude......yeah, Dappou Herb, aka loophole drugs which have made a boom in Kyushu and now the rest of Japan.
StormR
AKBfan the NZ approach is dumb why make these loophole drugs legal when they send people loopy, they are terrible, bad horrible and make people sick, It would be better to use the model of Colorado and NZ is in the debate about it as you type.
House Atreides
He should have said nope to dope.
sf2k
This guy Herb has a lot of influence in the country! He must be stopped
Moondog
WA4TKG wrote:
Thunderbird replied:
It's also nothing to be ashamed of. It's much better than saying something such as "I've drunk whisky for DECADES."
nath
Yeah, as long as the loophole drug is not illegal, the person smoking has done nothing wrong by smoking it. Driving after smoking on the other hand is entirely wrong, as it's driving under the influence (or at least an influence). This guy should be locked up for a long time, he could have killed someone. The video of it was ridiculous.
Mirai Hayashi
Just legalize and regulate marijuana and you won't idiots like these pair.
gaijintraveller
Actually, the biggest drug problem in Japan is prescription drugs. Most Japanese think they are not drugs but medicine as they got them from the docot, so there are lots of people driving around on anti-depressants, tranquilisers and so on.
sighclops
The people on here preaching that marajuana be legalised obviously haven't been in Jaoan long enough. It will NEVER happen.
nath
It will never happen until/unless the US legalizes it. It was made illegal following the lead of America, and there is a good chance that when the Americans legalize it, it will open up the debate in Japan.
HokkaidoKuma
Those "loophole" drugs are nasty business. On Vice Japan, there was a special on those things. If I remember correctly, they were plant food and some sort of toxins. Just stay away from that stuff.
Jean ValJean
As a non-substance user(never tried any personally ), at least cannabis should be completely legalised as Uraguay has just done. Then, people wouldn't have to resort to this "haabu" poisonous junk. Pass the Cheetos would be the result.
habidaccus
Some astute observations here about how people supporting legalization probably smoke(d) it. Indeed, and on the same coin, people against it probably haven't ever, still taking stock in all of the negative propoganda surrounding it.
Anyhow, I can't say that legalizing pot would stop the usage of these knock offs - maybe people just like poisoning themselves. But even without "the removal of demand for fake herb" as another positively for legalization, science, history and plain common sense demand it anyways.
hidingout
Yup. And that only makes his reckless behavior even more crazy. If he had just sat in his car and waited for the police as one normally does he most likely wouldn't have faced much of a problem. He has the money for a lawyer and its hard for the police to actually charge him with a crime if he pleads ignorance on the quasi-legality of whatever he was smoking. Now he's gone and made problems for other citizens and will certainly be going to jail. What a fool.