The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB; an NGO) hosted a seminar at the Korea Press Center to discuss illicit drug usage in North Korea. Image: Daily NK.
Posted on 12/08/2016 5:01:23 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Illegal drug usage soars in North Korea: 30% nationwide
Kim Seong Hwan | 2016-12-06
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB; an NGO) hosted a seminar at the Korea Press Center to discuss illicit drug usage in North Korea. Image: Daily NK. |
Illicit drug distribution and consumption is pervasive across all regions of North Korea, according to new research presented by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB). Of particular note, it was found that a high proportion of Pyongyang residents use illicit drugs on a regular basis.
Lee Gwan Hyeong, a researcher at NKDB, headed a seminar on December 1st at the Korea Press Center to discuss the findings of a research project that involved detailed interviews with 18 subjects from February to October 2016.
“The research revealed that the regular use of illicit drugs became socially acceptable after 2010. At least 30% of all North Koreans are estimated to consume illegal drugs, with usage rates being higher in North Korea’s economic and political capital: Pyongyang,” Mr. Lee said.
One former resident of Pyongyang who was interviewed for the project claimed, “90% of Pyongyang residents use drugs including methamphetamine or opium. It’s gotten to the point that people look at you funny if you don’t do drugs.” Another defector who lived in the Pyongyang area said that drugs are a frequent topic of conversation between friends, and discussing them has become something of a greeting. When asked just how widespread usage has become, Mr. Lee remarked that today’s levels are without precedent even for North Korea.
“The problem is particularly severe because the distribution and availability of drugs has become ubiquitous throughout the country. A huge proportion of the population - independent of age, sex, or class - has become an active user of ‘ko,’ [the name for a type of methamphetamine],” Mr. Lee continued.
According to the report released at the symposium, methamphetamine usage became widespread in the mid 2000s. On August 13, 2003, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly changed the categorization of illicit drugs from ‘controlled substances’ to ‘commodities.’
The report cites defector testimony to reveal that, “After 2003, ordinary residents began to perceive drugs as a way to earn money. Further exacerbating the problem was that Ministry of People’s Security agents tasked with cracking down on drug dealers could themselves be bribed with drugs.”
Experts at the seminar noted that the issue requires more attention and consideration from the international community.
“We should seriously consider the widespread usage of illicit drugs in North Korea in the context of preparing for reunification. North Koreans who have become addicts cannot simply be neglected. The social forces that have given rise to this trend will not easily be resolved,” Ewha University Social Welfare Professor Yang Ok Kyung argued.
“The North Korean drug problem is relevant to South Korea with regards to reunification, and it’s also important for the international community to think about solutions.”
The seminar hosted by NKDB was the first in a series intended to generate interest and provide information about the ongoing drug crisis in North Korea. “Through this project, we will continue to pursue research on the North Korean drug problem. We will present collaborative solutions for this difficult problem and work towards international solidarity in addressing the issue,” NKDB Chairman Lee Jae Chun said.
P!
We should deliver them a couple of tons of heroin a month.
The Pyongyang Airlift
I thought maybe they ran out of grass to feed the people with.
Can’t blame the peasants, they have nothing else to look forward too. Guess we should just nuke’em.
Opiate of the masses. Kim must approve.
state-sanctioned enterprise to earn hard currency
The only way they could have a drug problem is if it was state sanctioned. It makes you wonder how many of our politicians, judges and police have been bought with drug money.
Make them legal. Tax them. Idiocy solved. Government grows.
Is acetaminophen an illicit drug?
It is in reality. Enforcement is negligible.
Tax them.
It is done in the form of bribe.
Probably ... along with penicillin, Vitamin C, iodine ...
If I were imprisoned in that hellhole, I’d want to escape my misery through drug addiction too.
I just hope the South Koreans aren’t too idealistic, and/or too eager to reunify under any conditions. If and when reunification happens, it MUST be under the total control of the South. It cannot be a joining of equals, but rather the South taking over the North on its own terms. Anything less than that will lead to disaster.
The root of N. Korean drug problem is the collapse of medical services. Hospitals don’t have even most basic drug or medication for treatment. People first used heroin as all-purpose drug, a kind of powerful analgesic which can take care of symptoms, but not the real medical problem. Then Meth came along. From then on, people get them for recreational use, casually used like cigarettes and alcohol.
Better than NK TV.
While high on dope, these folks are probably watching a S. Korean TV drama smuggled into their country. Their way of having a good time. A rather depressing snapshot of N. Korean society. Of course, they may not feel that it is depressing.
Soma.
A totalitarian state can't suppress drug use, yet some fantasize that it can be done in the Land of the Free.
Compare with this
Some 32.4 million people - or 0.7 per cent of the world's adult population - are users of pharmaceutical opioids and opiates such as heroin and opium.
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/World_Drug_Report_2015.pdf
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