Year Category	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Number of cases carried out	29	28	26	63	78	42	29	39	31	38

Table 2-8 Trends in the cases violating the Anti-Drug Special Act (Pursuing the illegal import of drugs as a profession) (2000-2009)

Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Category
Number of violations of article 5 (Pursuing the illegal import of drugs as a profession)	34	18	43	32	45	47	40	38	52	35

Note: For violations of articles 6 and 7, refer to P. 125

## (2) Eliminating Demand

Drug abuse does not just damage the mind and body of the user, it threatens the very safety of society. Depending on the hallucination or fantasy caused, users may commit murder, arson or any number of malicious acts, in addition to potentially causing horrendous traffic accidents.

In addition to arresting serious drug abusers, the police are carrying out activities such as the spreading of public awareness to promote the spread of correct knowledge about the danger and harm of drugs.

Table 2-9 Number of Persons Arrested due to Crimes Committed by Regular Drug Users (2008, 2009)

Type	Penal Code Offenses	Other Law Offenses
Felonious Offenses	Violent Offenses	Firearm Control Act	Others
Murder	Robbery	Arson	Rape	Violence	Battery	Threat	Extortion	Unlawful assembly with dangerous weapons	Larceny Offense	Others
2009	858	72	10	57	4	1	184	28	99	14	43	0	373	229	3,942	23	3,919
2008	809	68	17	39	6	6	146	23	80	5	38	0	404	191	3,403	10	3,393
Difference	49	4	$ \Delta $ 7	18	$ \Delta $ 2	$ \Delta $ 5	38	5	19	9	5	0	$ \Delta $ 31	38	539	13	526

Note: This term applies to those who regularly use stimulants, drugs, cannabis, opium or psychotropic drugs or those who regularly abuse toluene and other types of organic solvents, including paint thinner and glue. Whether or not the user is addicted is not questioned.

### 3. Gun Situation

The gun situation in 2009 remains severe. While the numbers of confirmed cases in which guns were fired and confirmed cases involving the use of a gun $ ^{1} $ remain at a record low level, felonious crimes causing harm to the general public continue to occur.

Note 1: Incidents in which firearms or firearm-like objects were fired. Firearm includes handguns, small arms, machine guns, cannons, hunting rifles and other air-rifles and gunpowder rifles with the ability to shoot metallic bullets" (Article 2-1 of the Firearms and Swords Control Act (hereafter the "Firearm Control Act")). Firearm-like objects refer to objects that resemble firearms and that are shown to others in order to perpetrate crimes, and may be identified as firearms by the testimony of a victim or witness.

## (1) Occurrence of Incidents in which Guns were Fired

In 2009 there were 34 incidents in which guns were fired, a decrease of 8 cases (19.0%) from the previous year, but the number of deaths and injuries was 20 persons, an increase of one person from the previous year. Of these, there were 22 cases allegedly resulting from Boryokudans, accounting for 64.7% of all the incidents in which guns were fired.

Looking at the occurrence of incidents by prefecture, the Kanto area had an occurrence rate of 55.9% out of all the regions. Other areas with four or more incidents were Tokyo Metropolis (9 cases) and Fukuoka (4 cases).