第68会期麻薬委員会（CND）再開会期会合：議題5：国際麻薬条約の履行におけるステートメント（菊地信之公使参事官）（英語）
令和7年12月5日
Thank you, Chair.
Japan speaks today with strategic resolve: to help shape an international community where all people may live free from the harm of drugs, and where organized crime shall never threaten global security.
The drug problem has grown into a pressing challenge for both public health and public safety. The four substances reviewed by WHO illustrate this clearly. Three of them—MDMB-FUBINACA, N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene, and N-desethyl etonitazene—are synthetic drugs whose dangers evolve swiftly with chemistry itself.
MDMB-FUBINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid found in counterfeit drug markets, has caused agitation, sedation, memory loss, tachycardia, anxiety, and tragically, many hospitalizations and deaths. Japan moved swiftly years ago to designate it as a controlled substance, and we continue to refine our monitoring so that similar compounds may be brought under control without delay.
The two nitazene-type synthetic opioids under review show no definitive toxicological record yet, but their very mechanism suggests effects stronger than fentanyl. Japan treats this possibility with utmost seriousness. One of these substances is already designated domestically; the other remains unregulated, but we maintain heightened analytical surveillance to act the moment risk becomes clear. These examples demonstrate our commitment to tailored, substance-specific responses grounded in science.
Such rapid evolution in synthetic drug production and trafficking demands equally agile analysis. We therefore value the scientific, evidence-based information gathered and shared by UNODC and INCB, which strengthens the world’s ability to act promptly.
To reinforce global capacity, Japan supports UNODC programs through financial contributions—from forensic science initiatives in Southeast Asia, to alternative development, drug-use prevention, treatment access, and responses to maritime crime including drug smuggling. At home, comprehensive controls on new psychoactive substances allow us to regulate entire groups of analogues, even before they appear on the streets.
Japan will continue to work closely with UNODC and INCB, and to promote full implementation of the international drug control conventions, so that the world may advance—step by step—toward freedom from drug-related harm and from the shadow of criminal networks.
Japan speaks today with strategic resolve: to help shape an international community where all people may live free from the harm of drugs, and where organized crime shall never threaten global security.
The drug problem has grown into a pressing challenge for both public health and public safety. The four substances reviewed by WHO illustrate this clearly. Three of them—MDMB-FUBINACA, N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene, and N-desethyl etonitazene—are synthetic drugs whose dangers evolve swiftly with chemistry itself.
MDMB-FUBINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid found in counterfeit drug markets, has caused agitation, sedation, memory loss, tachycardia, anxiety, and tragically, many hospitalizations and deaths. Japan moved swiftly years ago to designate it as a controlled substance, and we continue to refine our monitoring so that similar compounds may be brought under control without delay.
The two nitazene-type synthetic opioids under review show no definitive toxicological record yet, but their very mechanism suggests effects stronger than fentanyl. Japan treats this possibility with utmost seriousness. One of these substances is already designated domestically; the other remains unregulated, but we maintain heightened analytical surveillance to act the moment risk becomes clear. These examples demonstrate our commitment to tailored, substance-specific responses grounded in science.
Such rapid evolution in synthetic drug production and trafficking demands equally agile analysis. We therefore value the scientific, evidence-based information gathered and shared by UNODC and INCB, which strengthens the world’s ability to act promptly.
To reinforce global capacity, Japan supports UNODC programs through financial contributions—from forensic science initiatives in Southeast Asia, to alternative development, drug-use prevention, treatment access, and responses to maritime crime including drug smuggling. At home, comprehensive controls on new psychoactive substances allow us to regulate entire groups of analogues, even before they appear on the streets.
Japan will continue to work closely with UNODC and INCB, and to promote full implementation of the international drug control conventions, so that the world may advance—step by step—toward freedom from drug-related harm and from the shadow of criminal networks.