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Japanese police attempting to clamp down on “zombie cigarettes”

Master Blaster Dec 2, 2025
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Who doesn’t want to be a zombie that smokes?

Although Japan doesn’t tend to have quite as prolific a drug culture as other countries, one does exist, and the newest part of it to make headlines has been “zombie cigarettes” (literally “zombie tobacco” in Japanese, but “tobacco” is often used to refer to cigarettes in the language).

That’s the name the Japanese media and authorities tend to use for it, and other names include “zombie juice,” “kpods,” “space oil,” and “laughing gas,” but the true name of the key substance is etomidate. This is an extremely fast-acting anesthetic that can knock patients out in a matter of seconds and is usually used in ER settings as a precursor for regular anesthetics, because etomidate is also very short-lasting, with patients waking back up in a matter of minutes.

It’s also been adopted as a recreational drug, particularly in Southeast Asian areas like Hong Kong and Singapore. However, it’s not a particularly pleasant drug, offering little in the way of euphoric feelings. It’s mostly just knocks people out and can result in a loss of motor control and spasming, hence the “zombie” nicknames. It recently made its way to the southern parts of Japan, especially the islands of Okinawa Prefecture. Last May, the Japanese government classified etomidate as a “shite yakubutsu” or “designated drug,” making it explicitly illegal for recreational use and sale. Since then, there have been 18 arrests for etomidate possession in Japan.

In August, the first-ever arrest for etomidate possession in Tokyo was made when a 28-year-old was found with about 3.1 grams of it in vape liquid inside his parked car in Shibuya. The man admitted that he had been vaping etomidate since April and intended to use the amount that was found on him.

▼ News report on the arrest

Readers of the news online were unsettled by the rapid spread of this drug, while others debated whether “zombie cigarette” was a cool name or not.

“I would like to see a real zombie once in my life.”
“It’s a zombie outbreak.”
“It’s scary to think this will continue to spread.”
“So that’s what zombie cigarettes are. Scary…”
“Like fentanyl, it all comes from you-know-where.”
“Of all the drug names, ‘zombie cigarette’ is by far the lamest.”
“Don’t give it a cool name with foreign words like ‘zombie.’ That’ll just make people want to use it!”

It’s probably safe to say any drug with “cigarette” in the name is inherently uncool, and the media is likely using it for that very reason. From what I read about it, it’s a pretty unappealing drug too, meaning there’s always hope that it will just never really catch on and become a problem of the past all on its own before too long. In the meantime, steer clear of anyone acting like zombies on the streets of Japan.

Source: TBS News Dig, High Times, YouTube/TBS News Dig Powered by Jin, Twitter/ゾンビたばこ
Top image: Pakutaso
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