Temporary Reclassification of Two Synthetic Cannabis and Hallucinogens as Controlled Substances... For 3 Years

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 6th that it will re-designate two substances, 'LY-2183240' and '1B-LSD', as temporary narcotics, whose existing temporary narcotics designation period of three years is set to expire this December.

LY-2183240 is a synthetic cannabinoid that acts on the central nervous system and exhibits psychoactive effects, while 1B-LSD produces hallucinogenic effects similar to the narcotic LSD. The Ministry explained that these two substances are regulated overseas as well due to their health hazards.

These substances will be prohibited from possession, ownership, use, management, import/export, manufacture, sale, brokerage, and transfer as temporary narcotics until the end of 2026. Those who import or manufacture these substances face imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 100 million KRW, and those who sell or transfer them face imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

The temporary narcotics designation system, implemented in 2011, manages substances that are not currently classified as narcotics but are abused as substitutes for narcotics and pose a risk to public health, in the same way as narcotics for a period of up to three years. So far, a total of 263 substances have been designated as temporary narcotics, among which 161 substances, including 'THF-F', have been designated as narcotics after dependency evaluations.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "We expect this temporary narcotics designation notice to help block the distribution of new narcotics and contribute to public health. We will continue to cooperate with related agencies such as the prosecution, police, and customs to do our best to protect public health from new and illegal narcotics."

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