TOKYO (AFP) — Inmates at a major Japanese prison found marijuana growing naturally on the grounds, but instead of getting high, they went to the wardens.
The prisoners found some 300 hemp shoots growing on the exercise ground of Abashiri prison, located on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, Jiji Press and the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
Wardens pulled the weeds and spread herbicide after the discovery last year. But some of the hemp sprouted again this year -- and the inmates reported it again.
In physical check-ups, prison officers found no signs that any inmates had taken advantage of the wild marijuana, the reports said.
Possessing, growing or smoking marijuana is strictly prohibited in Japan.
Abashiri, which is covered in snow in the winter, had a reputation as the harshest in Japan before World War II and housed political offenders.
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