Last issue: Making your own laxatives, cheating to take home medicines… “Medication situation in women’s prisons” by a beautiful cartoonist who has served time in prison.

The “battle over medicine” between prison staff and inmates

The number of crimes in Japan is on the rise, as the term “Tokuryu” (anonymous and mobile criminal groups) has become a well established term to describe a new form of crime. According to the “Statistics on Crime Situation in ’24” released by the National Police Agency in February, the number of criminal offenses increased 4.9% from the previous year to 737,679. This is the third consecutive year of increase since 2010. With the increase in crimes, the number of inmates in prisons has also been increasing.

In this context, Moe Aizawa, who also works as a sexy actress, has been making a manga about the “inside story of women’s prisons,” which is surprisingly little known. Ms. Aizawa herself has served about 13 years in prison. In this interview, we asked her about the conditions of illness and drugs in women’s prisons. (All statements in parentheses are made by Ms. Isawa.)

I would like to talk about the drug situation in women’s prisons. I would like to talk about the drug situation in women’s prisons. In prisons, health checkups are conducted regularly and inmates’ physical condition is checked frequently. On top of that, medication is very strictly restricted and controlled. When they are sick, they apply to the prison staff for medication and get permission to receive it. …… When it is late, it takes about a week to receive the medication. By the time the medication is provided, I am already cured!　Often, I was already cured by the time I received my medicine!

There are various other rules. The prescribed medicines are checked to make sure they have been taken in accordance with the dosage and administration.

After taking the medicine in front of the staff, you have to stick out your tongue and vocalize ‘rarirurero,'” he says. Apparently, this is the pronunciation that moves the tongue the most, and it is to check that they do not have any drugs hidden in their mouths.

However, the prescribed medication is limited to eight pills per month. And it takes a long time to receive them. Since I am also a migraine sufferer, I wondered if I could manage to take out some painkillers to hide and stock up, I developed a subterfuge of hiding the pills in my back teeth and at the base of my tongue, and then quickly hiding them inside the hem of my clothes …… when I finished checking them out. It was a constant battle to outwit the staff.

Drugs have the same meaning as “currency” in the prison. In particular, sleeping pills and other common drugs can be used by anyone and are in demand. I used to bring them home with me because I could barter them when the need arose.

Since the serialization started last September, Mr. Gosawa has contributed his manga to FRIDAY Digital for a year. This is the final episode, and Mr. Gozawa concluded, “If you commit a crime, you should atone for it. I will never commit a crime again,” he said, before revealing his true feelings about being featured in the series.

He then revealed his true feelings about the series: “Prison is a place where you don’t have to go for the rest of your life. However, there are people like me who have to go there to learn. The reason I am able to live like a human being now is definitely because of my 13 years of experience. I hope that people can know, even if only a little, that there are people like that out there.