JAPAN TO TIGHTEN LOOPHOLE ALLOWING MAGIC MUSHROOMS

TOKYO - Japan, known for some of the toughest drug laws in the
industrialised world, is set to plug a legal loophole that has allowed
hallucinogenic "magic" mushrooms to be sold without penalty, media said on
Sunday.

Quoting health ministry sources, Kyodo news agency said Japan has decided
to ban the sale and possession of all mushrooms with hallucinogenic elements.

No ministry comment, or further details, were immediately available.

Due to a bizarre legal twist, psilocybin -- the chemical that gives the
fungi their "magic" properties -- is currently illegal, but the mushrooms
themselves are not.

This has allowed vendors to hawk them from sidewalk stands, stores and the
Internet. Magazines can also run advertisements for exotica such as
Hawaiian toadstools without facing trouble.

In a society not known for recreational drug use, such laxity is the
exception to the norm.

Drug control is so strict in Japan that even some over-the-counter foreign
cold medicines such as Sudafed are routinely seized by customs officers
because of the stimulants they contain.

The ministry aims to eventually classify all mushrooms containing
psilocibin as narcotics and ban their import, cultivation and
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Currently, dealers walk a fine legal line. Although they cannot be arrested
for possession of the mushrooms themselves, they are sometimes nabbed for
other violations, such as selling pharmaceuticals without a licence.

According to the ministry, at least 11 types of hallucinogenic mushrooms
grow wild in Japan, and two of them are confirmed to be widely distributed,
Kyodo said. In addition, some imported mushrooms are also seen in the market.

Japan's most high-profile drug bust was the 1980 arrest of former Beatle
Paul McCartney at Tokyo international airport for possession of 219 grammes
(7.7 ounces) of marijuana.

He was held in jail for nine days before being released and deported.