'Ilpamanpa' Minor Drug Case... Expert Says "Urgent Need for Drug Prevention Education"

As drug-related crimes surge, the issue of juvenile drug offenders continues unabated. Experts unanimously agree that systematic drug prevention education is urgently needed.

Gang Seon-bong, Head of the Narcotics Crime Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is giving a briefing on the arrest of drug dealers and users, including 15 minors, at the Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the morning of the 26th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 26th that they had apprehended 15 minors suspected of violating the Narcotics Control Act, detaining one of them. It is known that these individuals were first introduced to methamphetamine through adult drug offenders they met via SNS and random chat apps, or through school and neighborhood friends they were close to. Most of them initially tried methamphetamine out of curiosity but later became addicted and repeatedly used the drug, according to police statements.

On the 24th, three middle school students were sent to the prosecution. The Dongdaemun Police Station in Seoul forwarded middle school student A (14) and two male classmates without detention on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act. A is accused of using 0.05g of methamphetamine with two male classmates at her home in Dongdaemun-gu at 6:40 p.m. on the 6th of last month. The crime was revealed after A’s mother reported it to the police. During the investigation, A and the others admitted to the crime, saying, "We used drugs out of curiosity."

The number of minors caught for drug offenses has recently surged. According to an analysis by the Justice Party Policy Committee on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's 'Narcotics Offender Crackdown Status' data released on the 7th, there were 481 drug offenders aged 19 or younger last year. This is 8.3 times the 58 offenders recorded just nine years ago in 2013. Among them, 291 were aged 15 to 18, corresponding to high school age. This figure is 5.3 times the 55 offenders recorded in 2016, when detailed age statistics began to be published. The number of drug offenders under 15 years old remained below six annually from 2016 to 2021 but surged to 41 last year.

The reasons for the increase in juvenile drug offenders include greater accessibility to drugs and their vulnerability to temptation. Jeon Kyung-su, president of the Korean Society of Drug Crime Studies, said, "Adolescents familiar with online environments have particularly high access to narcotics," adding, "From the perspective of drug dealers, minors who are vulnerable to temptation are good targets." Police officer A, involved in drug investigations, also said, "There are more kids who have lived abroad, and the environment now allows easy contact with drug dealers through SNS and other means. The price for a single dose of methamphetamine has dropped to as low as 100,000 won."

Experts agree that drug prevention education targeting minors is an urgent and practical solution, as it is realistically difficult to block harmful information online at the source. Lee Haeguk, director of the Korean Society of Addiction Psychiatry, said, "The prefrontal cortex of the brain, responsible for control and prediction, develops between ages 15 and 23. Minors are neurologically more vulnerable to temptation," emphasizing the need for systematically structured drug prevention education. He added, "Education should go beyond simply saying 'you will die' or 'you will be ruined' from drug use; it should logically teach how mood-enhancing drugs are harmful from a neuroscientific perspective." Officer A also said, "While blocking access points to drugs is most important, there are practical limits, so systematic early prevention education seems urgently needed."

There are also claims that the casual treatment of drugs in various popular cultures and the successive arrests of celebrity drug offenders make minors more vulnerable to drug temptation. Jung Daesung, CEO of Y Company, a health and medical education firm running youth drug prevention programs, said, "As rappers gain popularity, I see in educational settings that many kids take drugs lightly through drug references in rap lyrics." Director Lee also pointed out, "Do kids really think their lives will be ruined by drugs when they see celebrities like Yoo Ah-in or Don Spike? The social function to filter harmful information in digital media is insufficient."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.