[Various drugs, Photo Credit to Unsplash]

As access to drugs becomes easier and more frequent in South Korea, the prosecution is increasing the punishment of drugs to the strongest possible sentence, execution. 

South Korea is a “strictly drug banned” country.

Consuming any drugs without a legitimate reason, such as for medical reasons, is illegal.

Currently, South Korea’s strongest punishment for drugs is imprisonment for more than 10 years. 

However, as drugs are becoming known and popularized in other countries, drug crimes. 

Drug crimes  not only include people who consume drugs, but also people who distribute drugs.

Drugs that are commonly known and being used include cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. 

Researchers explain that illegal drugs are becoming popularized because detailed information about the drug trade and methods of administration are more commonly being found in social media.

Also, the cheap price of illegal drugs easily permits people to try drugs without much consideration.

As even adolescents are becoming easily exposed to drugs, drugs are becoming a serious social issue.

Between 2017-2022, teenage drug criminals increased about 304%, from 119 teenagers to 481 teenagers.

Several cases of teenagers consuming drugs have been found.

 Recently, in Daechi, Gangnam, criminals deceived various students to drink beverages that would supposedly help increase their memory capacity.

However, the drink was not a beverage for students; it was a drink made of methamphetamine. 

Some cases even include teenagersinvolved in distributing and selling drugs. 

Drugs have crucial drawbacks.

Drugs can cause severe health issues, such as damaging the respiratory system. 

Drugs are also addictive, it is difficult to stop after trying drugs out of curiosity. 

This is because drugs affect the brain’s reward circuit.

The brain perceives taking drugs as the same act as eating food or spending time with loved ones. 

The brain will continue to desire drugs even if one’s desire is to stop. 

While it is addictive, drugs have tolerance as well.

Every time a person uses a drug because of their addiction, they  will have to consume more drugs to get the same amount of satisfaction.

As a result, drug takers come to rely on drugs to function.

Drugs are banned in South Korea because of their negative impacts, not only on individuals,  but also on the entire society. 

For example, drug use can decrease work productivity as people cannot work efficiently on certain drugs, leading to a decrease in productivity. 

In order to reduce drug users, the prosecution has taken various actions.

Among them, updating the punishment of drug-related crimes to the death sentence.

The prosecution stated that starting from the second semester of this year, it will cooperate with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in order to operate customized treatment and social rehabilitation programs for addiction criminals. 

Last but not least, to solve the problem of increasing teenage drug users, the prosecution warned school teachers and other guardians to pay attention to students, as their parents may be unaware of the fact that their children are involved in drugs.