Shaky 'Mayak Cheongjeongguk'... Highest Increase Rate of Youth Drug Offenders Among All Age Groups

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] It has been reported that the number of drug offenders under the age of 19 last year reached 239, an increase of 67.1% compared to the previous year. Among the arrested drug offenders were students, adolescents, and even public officials, indicating that drug addiction among the younger generation is emerging as a new social issue.

According to data submitted by Lee Tan-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Ministry of Justice, over the past five years (2015?2019), while the total number of drug offenders increased by 1.3 times, drug offenders in their teens and twenties increased by 2.6 times, showing the largest rise among all age groups. This represents a 67.1% increase compared to the previous year, averaging "38 people per day" until June 2020.

Lee pointed out that as it has become easier to purchase drugs through SNS and the dark web, the number of drug offenders in their teens and twenties is increasing, and the age of drug offenders is gradually getting younger. He noted that drugs are easily accessible, inexpensive, and have strong hallucinogenic effects, leading to indiscriminate spread among the younger generation.

[Image source = Office of Lee Tan-hee, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea]

This 'drug addiction' phenomenon among teenagers and people in their twenties is also reflected in the current status of drug addiction treatment.

According to data submitted by Lee from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients in their teens and twenties diagnosed with 'mental and behavioral disorders due to opioid use' increased 1.8 times from 56 to 103 over the past five years. Following this, increases were observed in patients in their 30s, 60s, and those aged 80 and above, while decreases were seen in the 40s, 50s, and 70s age groups.

Meanwhile, according to the '2019 Drug Crime White Paper' published by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on April 29, last year’s arrested drug offenders included two individuals aged 14, who fall under the age exempt from criminal punishment, sparking controversy.

This upward trend is largely attributed to the surge of new types of drugs such as marijuana cookies and marijuana cream, as well as the widespread use of smartphones, which has made adolescents easily exposed to online advertisements for drug sales.

Lee urged, "The harm caused by drug addiction among adolescents is much greater than that among adults," adding, "It is necessary to secure personnel and budgets to support adolescent drug users from a long-term perspective and to implement early education to prevent students from experimenting with drugs out of curiosity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.