The Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Law (麻薬及び向精神薬取締法 ''Mayaku oyobi kouseishin'yaku torishimari hō'') is a law enacted in Japan in 1953 to control most
narcotic and
psychotropic
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior.
Th ...
drugs. It was enacted in 1953 under the name of Narcotics Control Law (麻薬取締法 ''Mayaku torishimari hō'') and was renamed current title in 1990 along with Japan's ratification of
Convention on Psychotropic Substances in the same year. It is often abbreviated to Makōhō (麻向法).
Japan has four separate laws to regulate drugs. There is one for
marijuana, one for
stimulants, and one for
opium; the remainder of all drugs fall under the category "narcotics and psychotropics." All of these laws were written in the 1950s, although some were revised in the
Heisei period in accordance with the
. Marijuana was unregulated before the
American occupation of Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the
Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States w ...
; opium was banned during the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
. Stimulants, most commonly
methamphetamine, were widely administered to soldiers and workers in the 1940s and 1950s.
The restrictions laid out by this law are comparable to Schedule II of the US's
Controlled Substances Act.
{{Drug control laws
Drug control law
Japanese criminal law
Drug policy of Japan