Mother who gave new smoking smart card to teenage son may face charges

Wednesday 04th June, 07:00 AM JST

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Altria at 09:55 AM JST - 4th June

Altria will gladly help this poor woman with any legal fees.
blvtzpk at 10:05 AM JST - 4th June

That's marginally better because at least the kid is home and, possibly, talking to his mother. Obviously they have talked about smoking and agreed the kid can smoke at home. Hopefully, they talk about other things to.

Could because mum doesn't want to be seen as a bad mother in the eyes of the neighbors, and all she is worried about is her and her family's image.
Hughgarse at 10:54 AM JST - 4th June

The maximum penalty is a 10,000 yen fine.

$100 ???? that`s it? what a joke!
NagoyaGaijin at 11:12 AM JST - 4th June

That is a pretty light fine..But in comparison...10,000 yen for a 300 (or if really fancy, 350!) yen pack of smokes is pretty steep.

Overall..I would say they both made a pretty stupid mistake. (I guess little Taro-kun has to go to the conbini from now on. . Or mama gotta buy his smokes...)
Youdontknow at 11:12 AM JST - 4th June

The whole card system is a farce anyway...

While I don't condone smoking...kids are gonna do it if they want to.

The cops have a thousand other things they could be doing instead of wasting tax payer's money with this crap! But then again, we all know the J-cops are a waste of time anyway!
quato at 12:51 PM JST - 4th June

At least she's responsible enough to make him smoke in their own home >instead of outside in public. And that's better because...? And I don't have to inhale his second-hand smoke!
noborito at 01:19 PM JST - 4th June

waste of time to even get involved for only a 10,000 yen fine. stupid!
TPOJ at 02:04 PM JST - 4th June

The mother, 41, whose name was not disclosed because she has not been charged, lent her taspo to her son Monday so he could buy cigarettes to smoke in their home, a police official in southwestern Fukuoka prefecture said Tuesday.

Y'know, call me an optimist, but she could have had him buying them for her.

Granted, if that were the case the sentence should read "so he could buy cigarettes for her to smoke," but we're reading this through the dual filter of translation and, possibly, confirmation bias.

I just remember in the States when kids would buy cigarettes and alcohol for their parents. (In small towns, this worked, since everybody knew everybody else.) I would imagine, since there was no age verification on machines until now, that (lazy) parents had their kids running out on cigarette runs all the time.

Old habits die hard :P
zanza123 at 03:20 PM JST - 4th June

I think the Japanese laws in regards to smoking are good enough already, at least the smokers can't liter their cigs and have to smoke during their own little sections.
USNinJapan2 at 03:25 PM JST - 4th June

Sorry TPOJ, but that's just wishful thinking. According to the original story before translation, the mother doesn't even smoke herself. She made the card so she can buy cigarettes for her boyfriend and to lend it out to her son, who she evidently knew had started smoking last year when he was 14.

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/item/26279
presto345 at 10:20 PM JST - 4th June

Abuse of the card is predictable. The urge by young people to experiment and copy the habits of adults is too. Prohibitive legislation will always be only partially effective as it is the nature of humans to challenge the restrictions laid upon them. Counseling, discussion the risks and instilling awareness of the latter are the responsibility of society as a whole, not only those of the parents or educators or law enforcement institutions.
usaexpat at 11:10 PM JST - 4th June

Not a great job of parenting but the kid would manage to procur cigarettes somewhwere anyway. I don't think she should be encouraging him to smoke but really don't find this newsworthy. The whole smart card thing is a massive PIA anyway and doubt it does much good. Anyway, if it was me I wouldn't worry too much as the maximum fine won't exactly break the bank.
presto345 at 11:46 PM JST - 4th June

but really don't find this newsworthy

So what are you doing commenting on it?
jpdrag0n at 03:56 AM JST - 5th June

whats the point of taspo if they dont check at the local 7-11? as long as you dont walk in with a high school uniform on, you can get cigarettes pretty easily. so if kids cant get their cigs from the vending machine, they just have to walk a couple more minutes and find a conbini and theyre set.
akuma1985 at 09:13 AM JST - 5th June

fukuoka persecutor have really a lot of free time to wast their time with is case. If she s ok than his son smoke at home i don't know where is the problem. and i dont think than taspo will stop young to smoke. after to OssanUltra if you don't like cigarette just goes to the no smoking place. or go to USA, france or England.