Recovery from Drug Dependence and Your Right to Stay: How Treatment Records Are Used in the Proceedings

Wanting to stop, and not being able to keep it up, is not something explained by weakness of will. Dependence takes shape through repetition, and it is not understood as a matter left to individual effort alone. Among those who come to see us are people who have been blaming themselves for a long time and are exhausted by it. This article sets out what recovery involves and what it means within the criminal and immigration proceedings, without apportioning blame and without softening the realities.

Key points

• According to the National Police Agency's report on the organised crime situation in 2025, the reoffending rate in stimulant cases is 64.6 percent. Repetition is not simply a matter of individual character.
• The same material puts the proportion of first-time offenders in cannabis cases at 72.6 percent, and at 85.4 percent among those under 20.
• Seeing a doctor and taking part in a treatment programme are steps towards recovery in themselves, and at the same time become objective evidence in the proceedings.
• Article 50(5) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (入管法) lists conduct and the need for humanitarian consideration among the factors, and this is where the record of those efforts connects.
• Because a drug conviction alone is a ground for deportation under Article 24(4)(chi), what happens before charges are laid determines the position on residence.

Is not being able to stop a matter of willpower?

It cannot be reduced to that. Where a person is dependent, the return to use has several strands behind it at once: the body's responses, living conditions, isolation, psychological strain. Saying that it continues because someone is not trying hard enough does not capture what is actually happening.

We do not use consultations to reproach anyone for what they have done. We know of nothing suggesting that reproach advances recovery. Creating conditions in which a person can speak frankly about the facts is more useful, both for the defence work and for life afterwards.

What the statistics show

According to the National Police Agency's published report on the organised crime situation in 2025, the reoffending rate in stimulant cases is 64.6 percent. The figure shows that repetition is not the exception but the majority experience. There is no need to conclude that you alone are especially weak.

The same material puts the proportion of first-time offenders in cannabis cases at 72.6 percent, rising to 85.4 percent among those under 20. In other words, a large share of people have not reached the stage of repetition. The support that is needed differs according to where a person currently stands.

For reference, the 2025 White Paper on Crime gives the rate of suspension of prosecution (起訴猶予) in 2024 as 35.5 percent for violations of the Cannabis Control Act and 8.5 percent for violations of the Stimulants Control Act. These figures do not distinguish between first offences and later ones, or between different kinds of conduct, so please do not read them as a forecast for your own case.

Choosing to connect with medical care

Where dependence may be present, speaking to a medical provider is the realistic first step. There are medical institutions offering specialist care, and organisations running recovery programmes, in many parts of the country. Which one suits you depends on your symptoms and your circumstances, and that is a judgement for medical professionals.

We do not offer opinions on the content or effectiveness of treatment. What we can say is that the fact of having started, and of continuing, carries weight later as objective evidence. We ask clients to keep records of consultations and certificates of participation.

What can families do?

The first thing families run into is not knowing how to behave. If stern reprimands solved this, so many people would not be struggling. Keeping a relationship in which the person can speak without hiding things. Going through the steps of connecting with medical care together. Actually changing the surroundings in which drugs are close at hand. These are undramatic, and they are what works.

We also ask families not to carry it all alone. There are groups where families in the same position meet, and there are public consultation services. If the people providing support are worn down, the arrangement will not hold.

• Practical help in connecting with care, such as making and attending appointments
• Reviewing the living environment, including housing and social circles
• Realistic adjustments so that work or study can continue
• Making sure the family has somewhere of its own to turn for advice

How these efforts are used in the proceedings

Before the prosecutor decides on disposition, defence counsel may submit written representations. There, whether arrangements against repetition are actually in place is an important element. Attendance at a medical institution, participation in a treatment programme, supervision by the family, the prospect of continued employment or study. Each of these carries weight when shown in documents and records rather than in verbal assurances.

The same applies in the immigration proceedings. Article 50(5) lists conduct and the need for humanitarian consideration among the factors to be considered. In a drug case, conduct will inevitably weigh against the applicant, but that assessment is not frozen at the moment of the offence. The question is whether what has been done since can be shown as a record over time.

Also understand the structure of the residence rules

Efforts towards recovery matter, but on their own they do not protect the right to remain. Article 24(4)(chi) makes a ground for deportation of anyone convicted of violating the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, the Act on Regulation of Cannabis Cultivation, the Opium Act, the Stimulants Control Act, the Anti-Drug Special Provisions Act, or Chapter XIV of Part II of the Penal Code, with no limitation as to the type of penalty or its length. A suspended sentence is caught.

So in a foreign national's drug case, a strategy aimed at securing a suspended sentence at trial is aiming at the wrong target, so far as residence is concerned. Obtaining a decision not to prosecute (不起訴処分) before charges are laid is the complete way out that protects residence. Efforts towards recovery also supply concrete material supporting the defence work directed at that objective.

How our office works, and matters we have handled

At Funado International Law Office, attorney Daisuke Matsumura handles every stage personally, from the first detention visit through to the close of trial. Because the person handling the case does not change, you are spared the burden of explaining your circumstances again from the beginning. For Chinese, we have a dedicated interpreter on staff who is experienced in cases involving foreign nationals, so that you have an interpreter working for you rather than one appointed by the investigating authorities. For languages other than Chinese, including English, we arrange an interpreter to suit the case.

We obtained a decision not to prosecute for a woman in her twenties alleged to have withdrawn money as part of a specialised fraud operation, by presenting her subjective circumstances in the round. In a matter in which a client was rearrested several times as an alleged collector of money in such a scheme, we secured decisions not to prosecute on every count, through the handling of interrogations, objections to improper questioning, and careful presentation of the evidence and arguments. On the immigration side, we have obtained special permission to stay (在留特別許可) on a single application through analysis of previously published grants. Past matters turned on their own particular facts, and no similar outcome can be promised.

Recovery is not said to move in a straight line. A period when things do not go well does not mean the effort was wasted. Connecting with medical care, putting daily life in order, and keeping a record of the path taken: that accumulation supports a person day to day, and it also becomes something that can be spoken about in the proceedings. Start where you can, and take your time. This article is a general explanation; for your own situation, please consult a lawyer directly. Past matters turned on their own particular facts, and no similar outcome can be promised.

This article reflects the law as at August 2026.

About the author

Daisuke Matsumura, Attorney at Law
Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration no. 59077, admitted 2019)
Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)
Practice focused on criminal defence for foreign nationals and immigration proceedings.
Results include an acquittal in a Stimulants Control Act case (possession for the purpose of profit), non-prosecution in organised fraud cases, and special permission to stay in cases regarded as difficult.

Funado International Law Office
Website: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/
WeChat ID: matsumura1119