Why is marijuana illegal? Because it is dangerous.
What makes it dangerous? It is illegal.
Why is it illegal? Because it is dangerous.

Many societies seek to implement the rule of law. In Japan, on drug issues at least, the rule of law is so strong that there is nothing else. Most people are afraid, literally afraid, of people they know to have smoked pot. Few people, including narcoics officers, have any idea what the stuff looks like or what its effects are. A lot of people are probably genuinely concerned that two Russian rikishi are now running around being all dangerous. (And they’re Russian! RUSSIAN! Dear god in heaven! Bring the dog in, close up the storm doors. This is not an ordinary red alert, like the Indian guy down the road walking down the street, this is crisis time!)

Thanks for the news but the image of ‘gratuitous sumo sex’ made me ill for days. I was reminded of a show on the Discovery Channel that showed hippos mating.

But what is truly sad about the foreign news services that reported these figures was that in the same report, Dior came out with well over a 100% score. That should have tipped them off. It didn’t, and an urban legend was formed.