Is cocaine legal in Japan?

Factual Questions
1

I just happened across this site: Medical marijuana in Japan
scroll down to “hemp in Japan”, and it says something about morphine and cocaine being legal medicine in Japan. Is this true? I can go to Japan and get a prescription for cocaine?

2

Can’t you get a prescription for cocaine in the States… under certain very controlled circumstances?

3

I can’t find anything on Japan, but it is legal with perscription in many nations including the United States (with severe restrictions).

Cite

4

I think cocaine is used in ophthalmology.

5

When I had my nose cauterized (due to chronic nosebleeds ironically) my ENT mentioned that he was using a cocaine-based gel to numb the area.

6

I had a bad nosebleed a couple weeks ago and had to go to the ER; they used lidocaine on me. I’d lost a couple pints of blood, and had passed out in the ER. That scared them a bit – they immediately gave me a CT scan and an IV. Ended up costing about $5000 total; insurance will pick up some portion of that (probably about 1/3 based on my past experience).

I’ve had lots of smaller nosebleeds & bruises lately, as I’ve been taking Plavix and aspirin since my angioplasty in March. As for cocaine, I’ve been given cocaine hydrochloride drops at the ophthalmologist; funny, because MedicineNet says that cocaine HCl is not to be used in the eyes.

7

And none of the prior posters have addressed the issue of morphine because we expect the legality of morphine, as a painkiller for extreme pain from injury or illness, to be almost common knowledge. “legal medicine” means exactly what it says: it’s legal to use this substance for treatment of a medical condition when applied in an authorized form and dosage under the direction of a competent practitioner, as defined by the law.

So you need not go to Japan to get a 'script for either. Just show up at any hospital with an injury or illness for which use of morphine or cocaine is indicated. You will NOT be handed a container with powdered cokeHCl/cornstarch mix to take home and sniff, though: the nurse attending you will get a vial of either injectable or topical application product to administer to you.