Police to Intensify Crackdown on Illegal Opium Poppy and Cannabis Cultivation Starting Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Police Agency announced on the 31st that it will intensively crack down on the illegal cultivation of poppies and hemp from next month through July, coinciding with the poppy flowering season and hemp harvest period. The police plan to conduct this crackdown alongside the ongoing intensive crackdown on narcotics crimes that started this month.

According to the police, the main targets of the crackdown are poppies and hemp secretly cultivated in rural and urban residential areas. Distribution activities through the internet and acts of smoking or using these substances are also included. To encourage reporting, the police will post promotional flyers and provide rewards for tips. The police stated, "Through this intensive crackdown, we will concentrate our efforts to eradicate narcotics, including poppies and hemp, which threaten the safety and health of the public."

Poppies are known as plants effective for pain relief and are sometimes cultivated on a small scale as a folk remedy, mainly by some farmers. However, poppies are classified as narcotics under domestic law, and the police explained that opium can be extracted and processed into drugs for abuse. Hemp can be legally cultivated for fiber or seed harvesting purposes or for academic research by licensed researchers handling narcotics, but recently, cases of illegal cultivation inside urban homes using various equipment and subsequent drug abuse have been continuously detected.

Over the past five years, the number of people arrested and the quantity seized for illegal poppy cultivation were 1,118 people and 141,927 plants in 2017; 1,060 people and 141,098 plants in 2018; 1,149 people and 169,905 plants in 2019; 1,032 people and 109,108 plants in 2020; and 927 people and 114,074 plants last year. For hemp, the figures were 341 people and 10,421 plants in 2017; 258 people and 5,670 plants in 2018; 426 people and 3,259 plants in 2019; 263 people and 484 plants in 2020; and 710 people and 5,518 plants last year. The police noted, "As some countries legalize hemp use, the sense of guilt is decreasing domestically," adding, "It is important to note that hemp and all products manufactured from it are subject to regulation and punishment under domestic law."

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