Government to Conduct 'Comprehensive Testing' on Entrants from High-Risk Drug Countries... Blocking Circular Drug Shopping

Drug Screening for Woobeomguk Travelers... Introduction of Millimeter-Wave Body Scanners
Mandatory 'Prescription History Check' at Other Hospitals... Preemptive Block on Drug Shopping

The government has decided to completely block the smuggling of narcotics at airports and ports. Comprehensive inspections will be conducted on arrivals from high drug crime areas without individual consent.

Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

On the 22nd, the government held the 7th Narcotics Countermeasures Council at the Government Seoul Office and announced the "Comprehensive Narcotics Management Plan."

First, the government will conduct comprehensive narcotics inspections on travelers arriving from high-risk countries for drugs, including Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand. The comprehensive inspections, which had been suspended due to reduced flights caused by COVID-19, will be resumed to prevent the smuggling of narcotics from overseas.

The inspection timing will also be moved forward to before immigration screening. Previously, inspections were conducted after immigration screening, but from now on, personal belongings and body checks will be conducted immediately as passengers disembark from the aircraft.

Airport screening capabilities will also be strengthened. By next year, "millimeter-wave body scanners" capable of scanning the entire body in 3 seconds will be installed at airports and ports nationwide to detect even small amounts of narcotics hidden inside the body or clothing. Additionally, focused inspections will be conducted on express cargo and international mail arriving from high-risk overseas countries.

Furthermore, the government will mandate verification of prescription histories from other hospitals to block "doctor shopping" for narcotics. This aims to prevent patients from visiting multiple hospitals to obtain large quantities of narcotics.

Prescription standards, such as dosage and frequency that doctors must follow when prescribing medical narcotics, will also be strengthened. When prescribing medical narcotics, doctors will be required to check the patient's past medication history. Institutional improvements will also be pursued to allow suspension of medical licenses if doctors administer or provide narcotics for non-medical purposes.

The number of treatment and protection institutions supporting narcotics addiction treatment will be expanded to 30 by next year. Addiction rehabilitation centers will increase from the current three locations in Seoul, Busan, and Daejeon to 17 nationwide by next year. Additionally, the government will promote the application of health insurance coverage for addiction treatment to improve treatment fees and increase accessibility to treatment.

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