Posted on 03/04/2011 6:07:09 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Crystal Meth Use 'Rampant' in N.Korea
North Korea's collapse will be brought about not by external pressure or the economic malaise but by widespread crystal methamphetamine abuse, say North Korean defectors who have recently arrived in the South.
How serious the problem is can be gleaned from a special instruction issued by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son and heir Jong-un, who earlier this year ordered the security forces to round up drug users, "regardless of rank" -- implying that addiction is widespread in all strata of society.
Defectors say that youngsters at an elite school in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province attended by the children of senior officials were caught by security officers having sex acts while watching a porn video under the influence of the drug. Widespread drug use has also been reported at major universities such as Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and Kim Chaek University of Technology.
North Korean sources say many security officers are themselves in thrall to the highly addictive drug.
Rumors say that at an officers' school under the North Korean Army near the border area, senior officers are enticing female soldiers under their command to use the drug and siphoning off the school's food to raise money for drugs.
Many officials of the State Security Department, the key North Korean agency charged with protecting the regime, are drug abusers themselves, sources claim, and reportedly work themselves up into frenzies of violence under the influence.
Instead of disposing of drugs they confiscate, officials either use them themselves or make money selling them on.
Some North Koreans allegedly use drugs as currency, with high school students exchanging them as birthday gifts and people even giving them as wedding presents.
The drugs in circulation are made in the North. The North reportedly began producing them in the early 1980s to earn the hard currency for the regime.
But crackdowns abroad have made export more difficult, especially in China, so the drugs are now sold in the North itself.
Once the taboo was broken, drugs became rampant. Even scientists at academies of sciences have begun secretly making drugs in their laboratories to earn money on the side as the economy goes from bad to worse.
A former senior North Korean official who recently defected to South Korea said the number of drug addicts has soared since a botched currency reform in late 2009.
A rumor among senior officials in Pyongyang in recent days is that Kim Jong-il's younger sister Kyong-hui is among the addicts, and Kim father and son too use the drug
So, just like in Afghanistan and Iran, they eventually end up getting high on their own supply.
Hard for me to understand...
I thought these people were nearly starving...
seems they would just be happy to have a biscuit or something...
Drugs are an escape from reality. The reality in NK is misery.
Read the story again. I've added some to the following line to clarify it.
The North reportedly began producing them (drugs) in the early 1980s to earn the hard currency for the regime (by selling the drugs outside NK).
So the production of hard drugs was encouraged by the government and became wide spread. The equipment and know-how is now also wide spread. Producing drugs is probably cheaper than producing food.
- In some regions, Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth) is consumed like food
- Children are addicted as well
- Regulation by the government is uselessDrug abuse in North Korea is worsening each day.
According to interviews with residents of Heoryong and Musan, in North Hamkyung Province on February 5, North Koreans near the border area and Shin-ui-ju, Hamheung, and Pyongyang consume Crystal Meth like food.
Especially near the border area, Meth is used by people of all ages, and even students aged 14-15 consume it. In these regions, Meth is served for guests, and the host invite guests to consume Meth by saying “Well, let’s drink!” Adults do not hesitate to invite children to consume Meth, which is resulting in addiction and drug related crime. Children often steal in order to afford their consumption.
The North Korean government, in March 2008, issued an ordinance prohibiting drugs, and ordered execution of anyone who is involved in trading. In 2009, the government placed specialists to regulate the drugs. However, those involved in trading have bribed government officials.
In the border region, 1g of Meth is traded for 100 Yuan, and the consumption is only increasing despite the food shortage.
Meth abuse would explain Kim Jong-Il.
I’d like to put him, Sheen, and Gary Busey together in a room with some power tools and a few working girls and see what happens.
That does surprise me. But one thing that explains Kim Jong-Il is the fact that North Korea is an isloated, mountanous area which was cut off from much of the world when the Communists took over with a population that was already ignorant and struggling. I’m guessing that the crystal meth helps make life bearable for the poor people trapped there.
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