Arrests and sentence

In November 2007 police arrested two members of the Kanto Gakuin University rugby club on suspicion of growing cannabis where they lived, and twelve other members of the team later admitted smoking it.[1][2][3] The two had cultivated the plants from seeds ordered from the website of an Osaka sundry goods store.[4] On 25 January 2008 the Yokohama District Court sentenced both former players, aged 21 and already expelled from the university, to 18 months in prison suspended for three years for cultivation under the Cannabis Control Law.[5]

What the court heard

The two grew 16 plants in the closet of a team-leased apartment in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, between mid-September and 8 November 2007, and admitted the charges.[5] The judge said they had made teammates smoke the harvest for fun, calling the behaviour selfish and irresponsible.[5] Twelve team-mates from second to fourth year, including one regular player, smoked cannabis at the apartment and at a Nagano hotel where the team stayed; Kanagawa police referred all twelve for joint possession, and Yokohama prosecutors declined to prosecute them in December 2007.[5] The coach who had led the club to six national university titles resigned over the case.[5]