The National Police Agency said that people in their 20s and younger accounted for more than 70 percent of the total. Social media is believed to play a role in how these younger generations gain access to the drug.

The largest proportion was people in their 20s, at 3,633, up 283. Next were 1,373 people under 20, up 245. Of those, 28 were junior high students and 315 were high school students.

Japan criminalized the use of cannabis under the revised Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act that took effect in December 2024, and 700 people were investigated under the law the following year.

A police survey of 1,006 individuals investigated for potential law violations between November and December 2025 revealed that over 40 percent of respondents in their 20s and younger had interacted with drug dealers online.

Many are believed to have come into contact with the dealers through social media platforms, such as X, and exchanged messages over encrypted messaging apps like Telegram, the police said.

Meanwhile, the total number of people investigated for drug-related offenses increased by 1,112 from the previous year, reaching 14,574. Of those, 2,124 were members or associates of yakuza crime syndicates and 1,887 were believed to be members of loosely organized criminal groups known as “tokuryu.” Foreign nationals accounted for 1,502 of those investigated.

The number of people investigated for stimulant use totaled 6,395, an increase of 271, though still far from the 19,722 peak in 1997. The number of individuals investigated for cocaine use reached a record high of 804, an increase of 218 from 2024.