[injectors, Photo credit to Pixabay] 

A group of high school students who distributed 200 million KRW worth of drugs were arrested and are on  trial to receive their sentences. 

The Incheon District Prosecutor’s Office’s drug crime special investigation team announced that it had arrested and indicted three people on May 16th. 

They are accused of selling, possessing, and administering drugs such as methamphetamine, through the Telegram app from October 2021 to July 2022. 

Telegram is an open-source and free messaging app that provides anonymity. 

One of the students learned this method of distribution from a drug dealer, who he met through Telegram, and then subsequently recruited his peers as accomplices. 

They were high school seniors at the time of the crime, and one of the group members asked their parents to rent a room for the purpose of studying. 

However, they used the room to sell drugs. 

The prosecution carried out a supplementary investigation after receiving the case from the police in November 2022 and confirmed that two people in the group stole 32 million won from the proceeds of the other person’s drug sales and opened and operated a new account for drug sales. 

They were also found to have taken methamphetamine and hemp during the course of the investigation. 

As a result, all three students under investigation were arrested without detention. 

The current situation of drug use among adolescents in Korea is serious. 

According to the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office's monthly trend of narcotics, there are currently 3,286 drug-related offenders. 

In January 2022, there were only 25 drug offenders, but in December alone, 381 were counted. 

This shows a dramatically increased number of drug offenders in Korea. 

Nowadays, teenagers can easily obtain drugs through social media. 

As drugs can be easily obtained online, the saying that Korea is a drug-free country has become a thing of the past. 

Experts argue that the cause of this increase and ease of finding and using drugs  is the growth of people engaging in drug use overseas, the emergence of a trading market using social media and virtual currency, and the increase in depression following the spread of Covid19. 

The most serious problems with such drug use is that they are highly addictive and have a harmful effect on humans. 

Many illegal drugs have strong excitatory, sedative, and hallucinogenic effects. They can also cause severe dependence, nerve damage, and mental disorders.  

In addition, if impurities are mixed in the manufacturing process, it can lead to death. 

Experts are pushing several methods to combat the  spread of drugs.

First, they recommend that the punishment for illegal transactions should be strengthened. 

They also suggest legislation to control the use of language surrounding drug use.

They also suggest that public education should strengthen their messaging, alongside a stricter control of media exposure relating to drug use.