Prosecutors Seek Detention and Maximum Sentences for Juvenile Drug Offenders... Plan to Strengthen Education and Prevention Activities

Data provided by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

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In order to establish a social safety net against the rapidly increasing juvenile drug crimes, the prosecution has decided to apply detention as a principle for drug offenders among youth and impose the maximum legal penalties. Additionally, they plan to propose the agenda of 'Strengthening Sentencing Guidelines for Drug Offenders' to the 9th Supreme Court Sentencing Commission, which will be launched next month.

Along with this, the prosecution intends to conduct addiction prevention education and preventive activities tailored to the perspective of youth through the investigative working groups of special drug crime investigation headquarters across various regions nationwide.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 30th, the number of drug offenders aged 19 or younger surged by 304% from 119 in 2017 to 481 in 2022, within just five years. This increase rate is more than ten times higher compared to the overall drug offender increase rate of 30.2% during the same period.

The significant rise in juvenile drug crimes is attributed to the fact that recently, youths can easily learn how to trade or use drugs with just a few searches on the dark web or social networking services (SNS), and the price of drugs has become so cheap that one dose of Philopon can be purchased for the price of a pizza. In fact, recent media reports introduced a case of a middle school girl who bought 0.5g of Philopon (about 10 to 13 doses) through Telegram with 400,000 won earned from part-time jobs.

Furthermore, there have been cases where innocent youths were deceived into taking drugs disguised as beverages, ice cream, or medicines for concentration enhancement or dieting, leading to addiction and subsequent violent crimes such as sexual assault and extortion. The number of youths directly involved in drug distribution for profit is also increasing.

To eradicate such juvenile drug crimes, the prosecution will strictly enforce detention and impose the maximum legal penalties for crimes involving ▲ supplying drugs to youth ▲ drug distribution using youth ▲ crimes that cause innocent youth to become addicted to drugs, while also cracking down on drug distribution within youth peer groups.

Article 58, Paragraph 1, Item 7 of the Narcotics Control Act stipulates that "Anyone who transfers, dispenses, administers, or provides narcotics to minors, or sells, transfers, dispenses, administers, or provides psychotropic drugs or temporary narcotics shall be punished by life imprisonment or imprisonment for not less than five years."

Paragraph 2 of the same article states that "Anyone who commits the acts in Paragraph 1 for profit or habitually shall be punished by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for not less than ten years," allowing for the death penalty for drug offenders who commit crimes against youth for profit or habitually.

Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to strictly respond by applying a zero-tolerance principle and prosecuting detention for cases where youth distribute or sell drugs to other youth.

They also intend to propose the agenda of 'Strengthening Sentencing Guidelines for Drug Offenders' to the 9th Supreme Court Sentencing Commission launching next month, aiming to strengthen sentencing guidelines for offenders supplying drugs to youth.

Data provided by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

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On the other hand, for youths who have used drugs out of curiosity but wish to quit, the prosecution will prioritize providing tailored treatment and rehabilitation opportunities over punishment, and will do its best to support recovery by offering one-stop services such as treatment and psychological counseling for juvenile victims of drug crimes.

To this end, the prosecution has decided to conduct customized drug crime and addiction prevention education suitable for youth perspectives through the regional investigative working groups of the special drug crime investigation headquarters, which are currently expanding to 18 district prosecutors' offices and 17 district police stations and dedicated police stations nationwide.

They will also actively utilize conditional suspension of prosecution with education, guidance, and treatment for simple drug-using youth, expand tailored treatment and rehabilitation opportunities, and carry out guidance activities by juvenile crime prevention commissioners.

The main types of drugs that youth in Korea are currently exposed to include ▲ Adderall (ADHD medication, concentration enhancement) ▲ Dietamin (commonly called 'Nabi-yak', appetite suppressant) ▲ Zolpidem and other sleeping pills ▲ Ketamine, Propofol (general anesthetics) ▲ Fentanyl (painkiller) ▲ Philopon.

Meanwhile, the prosecution urged that since youths find it difficult to voluntarily report or receive treatment after drug use, attention and caution from parents, teachers, and surrounding adults are necessary.

To this end, the prosecution plans to disseminate information related to reporting and counseling channels capable of rapid treatment and rehabilitation support upon detection of drug use and withdrawal symptoms, as well as abnormal symptoms caused by drug use and withdrawal, to relevant organizations such as the Ministry of Education. They will request active promotion so that parents, teachers, and adults can be well-informed and able to detect and respond early to youth drug use.

A prosecution official said, "Since symptoms vary by drug type and individual differences exist, immediate response is necessary not only for drug use and withdrawal symptoms but also for any abnormal symptoms different from usual." He added, "The prosecution will do its utmost to ensure that the future generation, youth, no longer fall into the trap of drugs and can grow and return as healthy citizens."

Data provided by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

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