Park Chae-a, Gyeongbuk Provincial Assembly Member, "Gyeongbuk Province Should Conduct Drug Tests Directly Instead of Relying on Central Government Departments"

Park Chae-ah, a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (People Power Party·Gyeongsan), delivered a 5-minute free speech on the theme of "Urging Gyeongsangbuk-do's proactive response to protect residents from the dangers of narcotics" at the 3rd plenary session of the 340th regular meeting held on the 26th, in observance of World Drug Day.

Councilor Park of Gyeongbuk said, "According to data from the National Police Agency, there have been a total of 2,410 drug offenders in Gyeongbuk over the past five years, ranking 6th nationwide, an ignominious achievement," adding, "The number of drug offenders in their 20s increased nearly threefold from 7.7% in 2017 to 20.6% in 2022, which is a very serious problem."

Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Member Park Chae-a.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's 'Wastewater-based epidemiological drug monitoring' data, from 2020 to 2022, wastewater treatment plants nationwide were selected annually to conduct residual drug tests, revealing the shocking result that drugs were detected in all wastewater samples across the country.

In particular, in Gyeongbuk, methamphetamine and ecstasy were detected at 3 sites in 2020, 1 site in 2021, and 2 sites in 2022, clearly exposing the residents to the risk of narcotics without any filtering.

Councilor Park of Gyeongbuk Provincial Council stated, "Drugs are a social evil that can completely ruin a person's life with just one use," and emphasized, "Local governments must proactively conduct surveys on the actual conditions of narcotics and share the results with the police and prosecution to increase arrest rates. We must achieve the eradication of narcotics to protect the lives of residents and realize a 'Drug-Free Gyeongbuk.'"

An official from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council explained, "Although drug offenders are rapidly increasing in the Gyeongbuk area, among the 486 wastewater treatment plants in the region, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety conducts regular drug tests at only 3 sites. Councilor Park's remarks imply that Gyeongbuk Province should not leave this solely to government agencies but should take the initiative to significantly increase these tests to more than 10 sites."

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