Drug Problems in Korea

Journalist | Seoyeon Choi | sy_iloveu@naver.com

Designer | Soyun Kang | soyun525@yonsei.ac.kr

While medical standards are improving around the world, the degree of drug misuse is getting worse. In the international community, $500 billion worth of drugs are illegally traded annually, and more than 200 million people abuse them. Misuse of drugs means not only the use of banned drugs, but also the intentional use of certain drugs for other purposes. Until a few years ago, Korea was recognized as a drug-free country, and globally, Korea was recognized as a simple drug-intermediate distribution country. However, according to data from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, 12,613 drug offenders were cracked down last year. According to international standards, if there are less than 20 drug offenders per 100,000 people, the country can be evaluated as drug-free, but Korea has already exceeded that standard and lost its status as a drug-free country numerically. In addition, due to the nature of drug crimes, they are likely passed without being cracked down. The hidden rate of domestic drug crimes is expected to be 28.57 times more than is revealed. The production team, which organized the “Talking about Drugs in Korea” series, conducted various coverage and concluded that “drug addiction is a social and medical disease in which treatment is essential.” The time is coming to change the policy and social atmosphere, which focuses on punishment rather than treatment. It is time to reflect on how our society, which has lost its status as a drug-free country, will approach the drug case.

What are Drugs?

Drugs are substances that relieve irritation in the nervous system. In general, the term “drug” has been used in two ways, as a narrow meaning of drugs, hemp, and psychotropic drugs. But recently, the term “drug” has been used collectively as narcotics. Narcotics are divided into natural drugs, synthetic drugs, psychotropic drugs, and cannabis.

Natural drugs are divided into opium and coca; opium contains opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine, and cocaine and crack in the coca. Synthetic drugs include pethidine and methadone. Psychotropic drugs are largely divided into psychedelics, stimulants, and inhibitors. Psychedelics include LSD, ecstasy, and mescaline, stimulants include amphetamines and YABAs, and inhibitors include sedative sleepers and tranquilizers. Cannabis includes cannabis, cannabis resin, and cannabis oil. All of them can be collectively called narcotics, but it should be noted that the effects and mechanisms on the human body are different.

Problems

According to the composition of drug offenders, addiction (25.7%), curiosity (13.5%), and temptation (10.5%) are the most common causes of drug usage, and the highest composition of addiction suggests that drug offenders often show recidivism. Therefore, to prevent recidivism, it seems that active treatment and rehabilitation-oriented policies are needed, focusing on treatment protection rather than strong criminal punishment. In addition, the growing proportion of teenage addicts shows that drug dealing by SNS such as the Internet, darknet, and telegram have become active.

Domestic drug control policies consist of strengthening punishment, professional treatment, preventive education, promotion, maintenance of harmful environments, strengthening investigative power, and international cooperation. International cooperation is constantly striving through the creation and operation of APICC, the creation and operation of the International Cooperation Council for Drug Abatement, and drug control is implemented by cracking down on entertainment establishments and strengthening punishment in case of detection.

However, professional treatment, prevention education, and promotion are very poor and have many problems. There are only 21 drug addiction treatment and protection institutions nationwide. The condition is very poor and the budget is insufficient. In addition, drug-related education for teenagers to prevent drug abuse is mainly focused on smoking and drinking. About 70% of students said they have never received education on hallucinogenic substances, and even for those who had, the effectiveness is low. The low effectiveness means that the educational content is poor or that it is common and superficial content that can be easily accessed on the Internet.

Drug Policies That Need Improvement

1) Stigma Reduction

The Stigma around drug use and addiction remains a significant issue in South Korea, which can prevent individuals from seeking help for their addiction. Improving public awareness and education about addiction as a disease and reducing the stigma associated with drug use could encourage more people to seek treatment.

2) Access to Treatment

Despite efforts to improve addiction treatment services, access to treatment remains limited in South Korea. Increasing the number of addiction treatment facilities and providing more resources for addiction treatment could help address this issue.

3) Decriminalization

Some experts suggest that Korea should consider decriminalizing drug use and possession and treating drug addiction as a public health issue rather than a criminal one. This approach could also reduce the stigma associated with drug use and encourage more people to seek help for their addiction. B