By I just wonder if the Korean media will call this an “International Drug Ring”?:
Five Seoul American High School students were arrested last week for allegedly smoking marijuana in a popular clubbing area, according to South Korean police.
A spokesman for the Mapo district police alleged the teens smoked marijuana in an alley near a Hongdae club half a dozen times between July and December 2009.
Police declined to say why the arrests were made only recently, saying only that the matter remains under investigation.
All five, who have been released, are the children of U.S. Forces Korea personnel or Department of Defense civilians, the spokesman said.
Six other teens — some South Korean and some Chinese — were arrested on the same charges. One of the American students is believed to have been supplying marijuana to the others, the spokesman said.
“We suspect there are more American students involved, but most of the suspects kept their mouths zipped,” the spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The case will be forwarded to South Korean prosecutors in coming weeks. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but this is just a continuation of drug busts involving USFK personnel and dependents the past two years. Some of you may remember the Victor Aruwah case where he was sentenced for smuggling drugs into Korea, the Camp Casey 8 who were also busted for pot, the Camp Long animal tranquilizer case, the Camp Humphreys pot dealer, and the two USFK spouses busted for mailing themselves meth. I wonder if they are all Kim Bu-seon fans?
Anyway it seems like USFK personnel and their families are giving the English teachers competition for the biggest potheads in Korea. Let’s not forget the drug dealing juicy girls as well. However, these USFK potheads have a long way to go before catching up to the exploits of the all-time greatest GI potheads.
By the way let’s no forget either the biggest Seoul American High School criminals in recent years.
11:58 pm on January 30th, 2010 1
Whenever shit like this happens, the names of the parents should be published.
I bet that would put an end to it real quick.
1:55 am on January 31st, 2010 2
I'm gonna get rich!
Pot Kim Bap!
Whatdayathink?
Instead of the sesame leaf, a bunch of fat buds sprinkled liberally between the ham and egg strip.
"Ya, choooong-mal maaaashida."
"Ya, byong kan-da!"
And, it has the extra side effect of KEEPING IDIOTS FROM SMOKING POT IN PUBLIC PLACES!
A couple years ago, I was drinking with a cop. We smelled the unmistakable smell of pot. Two knucklehead dependents were smoking in a booth in a bar. Unbelievable. He flashed his badge, gave them a lecture and "confiscated" it. I don't know what happened to it after that. Not my business. They slinked out quickly. We went on drinking.
A year or so ago, I said pot would be legalized in America and I got a lot of flack. Now, in many places, it is de facto legalized… and on its way to full legality.
Expect Korea to follow a decade later (or less).
I'm far too lazy to dare smoke the stuff… but it will go a long way to calming Korea down.
2:48 am on January 31st, 2010 3
I never have and never will smoke pot because I've had too many negative associations with it. The most significant of these was a high school classmate who was murdered (shot in the head for God's sake) two months after graduation after a "transaction" with a dealer who only intended on robbing the kid. The kid only lived for 18 years.
I get disheartened by media portrayals of the "Cheech & Chong" dealer with good intentions and cannabis as "heavy drugs-lite" because it completely ignores the truly criminal aspect of the drug, and it belittles the physical effects cannabis can have. Similar to ending Prohibition, I understand that legalization can possibly remove the criminal aspect of marijuana. However, I've also lost good friends who preferred to remain sedentary and blazed. Acquaintances have negatively affected my own life by shirking their responsibilities in order to get high.
On principle, I can't sympathize with marijuana users.
3:00 am on January 31st, 2010 4
Before the mid 70's, it was legal and readily available in South Korea. A friend told me farmers would eat with their meals and/or smoke it to ease their aches and pains after a long day of work in the fields.
3:02 am on January 31st, 2010 5
PS. I find it quite ironic that one of the few herbal medicines that are truly effective is illegal in a country where herbal medicine is big business.
3:03 am on January 31st, 2010 6
…or rather, well respected.
5:14 am on January 31st, 2010 7
Public embarrassment aside, don't the parents (if they're soldiers) get into some serious hot water if their kids get into some serious trouble in the ROK?
During my brief stint as a substitute teacher back in the 1990s, I was told by regular teachers that this was a major factor in the kids being so relatively well-behaved. Not sure if this is true anymore.
5:15 am on January 31st, 2010 8
And even if what I described is/was true, I guess it would have little bearing on the kids of DoD contractors and other personnel who are not in uniform.
5:19 am on January 31st, 2010 9
California voters may end up legalizing marijuana as early as this year (see here for some background on "Proposition 420").
But I don't see that being a game changer for South Korea. In the US, the genie is out of the bottle in terms of pot, but not so in South Korea, and most people overwhelmingly would prefer it stay that way.
South Korea's big drug problem is meth, and lifting restrictions on pot would be seen by many as undermining efforts to stem meth production and use as well.
5:58 am on January 31st, 2010 10
This isn't a matter of legality. The issue here is the trash that our country is producing. We should all be ashamed by this. Things will only get worse as they bring more dependents over here.
7:06 am on January 31st, 2010 11
Responding to comments @1 and @4:
The consequences to parents are that the kids will be barred from the bases and thereby barred from the DoD schools. The kids end up shipped off back to the States into the care of other family members or just drop out of school and continue on their wayward ways.
If the kids are Korean American — Korean mother, they can opt to remain in Korea under their mother's sponsorship and further their delinquency here. That is not too uncommon. If you have been here for a while you will have noticed a regular turnover from the on-base high schools to the off-base villes.
That applies to both military and contractor kids.
7:49 am on January 31st, 2010 12
Actually in some ways, contractors are held to higher standards than uniformed members. Contractors have no due process, recourse, or any rights whatsoever should you be accused. If you get in trouble, you are screwed. period.
7:52 am on January 31st, 2010 13
Perhaps Koreans are more likely to fall for propaganda and hype than Americans are? Don't know, it appears Nancy Reagan did her damage here quite effectively. Hell, it's taken over 20 years to start getting over it (and 50+ for Reefer Madness) in the States.
7:55 am on January 31st, 2010 14
What happens to these kids is up to the post commander. I remember back in my military days there was an ambassador’s kid, not sure what country he was from, that used to bring the stuff in his suitcase, they finally caught him before he left his country since he couldn't be searched coming into Korea. I worked on many cases involving family members and it is always left up to whoever the post commander is to decide if the kids and family lose their sponsorship and are forced to go back to the states.
7:56 am on January 31st, 2010 15
Usually a first offense doesn't get a family member sent back to the States.
8:32 am on January 31st, 2010 16
I'm pretty sure no UCMJ action could be taken against the servicemember for actions his/her dependent takes, but commanders can do such things as restrict access to base services, send a dependent home, revoke command sponsorship, etc., and actions like these should be hot water enough to maintain compliance.
8:36 am on January 31st, 2010 17
The post (garrison) commander can bar a family member from coming on base, but he doesn't have the authority to actually force someone to leave Korea – that has to come from the Korean gov't. In other words, if a soldier is told to send his kid back to the States – and he just lets the kid stay at home (off-base) and doesn't send him back – as long as the kid has a passport and a visa – he can stay in Korea.
I'm not saying a soldier should do that – and his commander can make life difficult for him in numerous other ways if he ignores a directive to send his kid back to the US. I'm just saying that technically speaking – only the Korean gov't can actually force a family member to leave.
8:46 am on January 31st, 2010 18
They do have A-3 visas, and as we have seen in the past (think CCK), they can be denied and withdrawn without explanation or any semblance of fairness. There is no recourse, no one to appeal to.
As far as the SOFA status goes, it is somewhat questionable, perhaps like SOFA-Lite. Besides, SOFA is for protection from the Korean government not the US government/military.
9:09 am on January 31st, 2010 19
Hey, you go to a foreign country and break the law then doom on you. I have no sympathy for anyone who gets caught.
Tobacco and alcohol have caused more sufferering in the world than pot ever has or probably ever will.
I've had a couple of good friends and family members lose their lives because of alcohol, I've had good friends thrown in jail for impaired and I've seen countless people lose their families because of alcohol.
A guy I knew in high school killed three of his friends drinking and driving. A drunk behind the wheel might as well be a loaded firearm.
Spare me the bullshit on the dangers of pot. Alcohol is the real problem. I'd rather be around a group of people chillin out on some pot than be around loud, arrogant and often violent drunks.
And no, I don't smoke it-I hardly drink for that matter, but there is no way you can tell me it's a worse social problem than tobacco and alcohol.
10:11 am on January 31st, 2010 20
You've painted two entirely different scenarios: one where the person is drunk behind the wheel – and the other where someone is stoned but just chilling out.
Reverse that and say you've got someone behind the wheel who is really high – aren't they also a danger?
Given a choice, I'd rather be with sitting at home chilling out with the drunk than sitting in the back seat of a car being driven by a guy who is really high.
11:36 am on January 31st, 2010 21
Hmmm?
While a number of claims have been made about the affects of pot compared to alcohol on driving, you rarely have anyone try to support it. So I tried.
Most claims have been the results of anecdotal reports. Such as doctors reporting that traffic accident victims had THC in their systems. But at the same time many of them also had alcohol and or other drugs in their systems. Not conclusive evidence of marijuana's effect.
I was able to find a clean study. It was full of technical jargon but the conclusions may be comprehensible by some.
Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance
U.S. Department of Transportation,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(DOT HS 808 078), Final Report, November 1993
11:50 am on January 31st, 2010 22
P.S.
That report tends to support anecdotal reports I've heard saying that people fighting the effects of marijuana tend to drive slower than normal.
2:50 pm on January 31st, 2010 23
You don't need to ask doctors or researchers – just ask someone who smokes dope. If they're honest, they will tell you that they don't drive as safely when they are high.
And driving too slow isn't the problem – it's the boneheaded mistakes people make when they are high that cause problems.
The dangers of driving drunk or stoned share some similarities, but are different in other ways, so there is a tendency by some to think of them as being very different. The bottom line, however, is that both are dangerous.
3:16 pm on January 31st, 2010 24
Guitard,
A British government study has found that cannabis has little or no affect on driving skills (and the researchers admit they were trying to prove that it has, so I would trust the results of that study). I could go on explaining this, but, to put it simply, marijuana is not alcohol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z5jkYvKscw&fe…
3:18 pm on January 31st, 2010 25
Contractors don’t have SOFA status or A3 visas?
3:20 pm on January 31st, 2010 26
An important difference between pot and alcohol is that people who are high enough for it to affect their motor skills recognize they shouldn't and generally don't.
3:35 pm on January 31st, 2010 27
As the commenter suggests in the video I've linked to…We need to put away the stereotypes of hippies and reefer madness and look at it from a scientific perspective. How much THC impairs driving? According to JoeC's figures, it's much more than most would care to smoke. And still, how do you measure its affect on medical users who've developed a tolerance to it?
4:35 pm on January 31st, 2010 28
I was stationed in Yongsan(seoul) at the 121 Evac Hospital from 1979-1980 and I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of Korean 'happy smoke' was bunk but it was cheap. Soju & mockolee (however you spell it) did the job.
4:58 pm on January 31st, 2010 29
-=Snip=-
I never have and never will drink alcohol because I’ve had too many negative associations with it. The most significant of these was a high school classmate who was murdered (shot in the head for God’s sake) two months after graduation after a “transaction” with a dealer who only intended on robbing the kid. The kid only lived for 18 years.
I get disheartened by media portrayals of the “party lifestyle” dealer with good intentions and booze as “completely ok” because it completely ignores the truly criminal aspect of the drug, and it belittles the physical effects booze can have. Similar to ending Prohibition, I understand that legalization can possibly remove the criminal aspect of alcohol. However, I’ve also lost good friends who preferred to remain drunk and smashed. Acquaintances have negatively affected my own life by shirking their responsibilities in order to get drunk.
On principle, I can’t sympathize with alcohol users.
-=Snip=-
Just to show how bad that logic actually is. Ethanol Hydroxide is more addictive and has greater side effects then cannabis does, yet its not only perfectly legal, its actually glamorized by the media and is used by many of our senior leaders across the world. In short, have you ever head of a man getting high on pot, then going home and beating his wife to death?
5:06 pm on January 31st, 2010 30
Contractors are under a special paragraph of SOFA. Its not the same as US government workers and the military. We don't have any legal protections or extradition clause's. If we screw up we're held to host nation laws, the US military won't lift a finger.
Because of this we have to take extra precautions to not break any laws and keep a low profile to not attract attention. We're left at the mercy of the Korean system, hopefully you have a friend or GF / wife that can translate / help you navigate it.
As for our visa status, that is a very sketchy road. Yes CCK can screw with us, but there are consequences for those personal if they do that. Notice the people who caused the last SOFA chaos no longer work in that office… and that's all I'll say about that. Typically they won't touch your status unless you REALLY screw something up.
5:23 pm on January 31st, 2010 31
Have any of you guys actually seen someone high on MJ before? Their about as docile and passive as Homer watching TV with a beer. About the only accident I can see happening is they miss a light cause their thinking too slow. But they wouldn't be going very fast to begin with, maybe half the speed limit if that.
5:28 pm on January 31st, 2010 32
Thanks for the clarification. Well done.
Oddly Scott Bonner has come out of hiding and is all over the place, and it looks like he still works with CCK in some capacity or another.
Funny, some folks swear he himself was an "ordinary resident" in Ulsan before becoming a GS (apparently not the same rules).
Many of the CCK crew have moved along, those given the boot were due to the original Army Audit prior to the contractor inquisition. Please speak more of these "consequences". I'm sure there are many interested parties reading this.
5:52 pm on January 31st, 2010 33
Legalize it and you've taken the criminal element out.
5:56 pm on January 31st, 2010 34
Ask any cops what gives them the most problem, drunks or pot smokers. Drunks start fights in bars, pot smokers go to the corner store to buy Cheetos.
9:59 pm on January 31st, 2010 35
True but the soldier will lose their command sonsorship and housing, they are forced to move back into barracks. Civilians will lose the extra money they get for kids and the kids will not be able to attend school on base. On top of that the family member will not be covered under SOFA.
10:11 pm on January 31st, 2010 36
Word. Never touched dagga myself, but to those who want to- why not?
10:44 pm on January 31st, 2010 37
This isn't about the legalization of pot. This is about trash kids causing embarrassment for the United States, its government, and military in a foreign country. How do the activities of these scumbags reflect on the military community? What kind of parents are our subordinates, peers, and leaders?
12:36 am on February 1st, 2010 38
So these kids were down in the party district, where they can get away with drinking. But they get caught smoking weed.
Well, pot may not be harmful, but it sure doesn't make you smart.
12:39 am on February 1st, 2010 39
It doesn't make you smarter…
And several people here have no problem whatsoever riding in a vehicle being driven by someone who is stoned out of his/her mind.
1:59 am on February 1st, 2010 40
I suppose you can imply from my comment that I wish for an absolute ban on marijuana, but I only said I can't sympathize with users. Obviously, this also holds true for alcohol drinkers who act irresponsibly with it, and I can't sympathize with them either. After all, I did mention what Prohibition did for the criminal world in America. What are the chances that smoking marijuana won't lead to similar behavior as alcohol drinkers after it is legalized? Marijuana's legalization will undoubtedly raise the number of smokers, and I am sure incidents involving marijuana will rise as well.
Your comment actually raised another question for me and hopefully I can get yours and others' opinion on this. Should "removing the criminal element" be the impetus for legalizing other so-called "vices?" Hard drugs like cocaine and heroin are obviously more addictive and physically harmful than marijuana, but they have an enormous criminal element attached to them because of their illegality. In addition, illegal prostitution feeds crime and spreads disease and gambling can become addictive. The question remains whether the cost of keeping these vices illegal outweigh the cost of making them legal.
The Netherlands has seen success with a drug policy that regulates the use of drugs like marijuana. What are the chances that this will create incentives for the development of designer drugs?
2:19 pm on February 1st, 2010 41
There you again…You'd have to smoke an awful lot of pot to be "stoned out of your mind". You clearly don't know much about the physiological affects of marijuana.
2:20 pm on February 1st, 2010 42
It far less embarrassing than drunken soldiers fighting with taxi drivers, if you ask me.
2:56 pm on February 1st, 2010 43
So respond directly to this: are you OK with riding in a vehicle being driven by someone who is stoned?
And for the sake of discussion, since this thread is about people in Korea getting busted – we'll say you are in a vehicle that is in Seoul.
5:18 pm on February 1st, 2010 44
guitard,
"So respond directly to this: are you OK with riding in a vehicle being driven by someone who is stoned?"
That's kind of a red herring…
…being that most people are generally scared to death to be in any vehicle in Seoul…
…let alone with someone who is impaired on alcohol inebriation/pot smokification/prescription med modification/navigator preoccupation/cellphone yappification/DMB concentration/nose picking fascination/gawking at the miniskirts walking down the street with imagined masturmabation/etc.
…so, I would have to answer, "No!"
guitard, while I would never encourage you to use it, I beg you to reconsider your support for legalizing pot.
Other than football, NASCAR and American Idol, can you think of any other cheap, easy and taxable way to make an increasing percentage of the population forget their seething anger that they lost their houses and are making sustenance wage to ask if you want fries with that… while the reasonable jobs have all been outsourced to India or shipped off to China or Mexico.
As the American economy declines and the standard of living slips for many, it may be one of the few things, other than the National Guard, that keep the masses from picking up their pitchforks.
And, for those who choose to work hard and work smart rather than relying on the crutch of pot to, "help relax, man,"… well, life just gets easier.
One would rather have the unwashed masses sitting at home saying, "dude, man, my job like totally sucks, man," than out drinking and getting angry… or sitting in a taxpayer-funded jail for a minor pot offense and then getting out and finding themselves unemployable with no real skills except how to be a real criminal.
Eventually Korea will follow suit as the global winds change.
"Ohmagod, like Dokdo is like soooo ours and all. We should like go kick their assses and everything. Yeah. Kick it. Yeah, man. Kick it. So, like, duuude, uh, pass me another hit of that Takeshima Prima, k?"
12:52 am on February 3rd, 2010 45
While we are on the subject, I came up with a very helpful…
Korean Drug Identification List
clank
hay she
clack, go gay in
air is tea
pee, she pee
hey, row, win!
met a pet a mean
Barbie 2 ate
bro
leaper
eggs
12:09 pm on February 4th, 2010 46
I guess two MJ cookies will do it. Some guy on an airplane dropped his pants and had to be choked out to get under control the other day. So much for the "safe steady peaceful stoner driver" theory. Anything that significantly impairs your perception is dangerous to use while operating heavy machinery. I won't be pulled in by the BS pro-MJ propaganda.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks…
2:14 pm on February 4th, 2010 47
Hamilton,
I'm skeptical.
These are not the actions of a pothead… even if they take "double the normal dose" of pot cookies. That's laughable.
More likely, he didn't want to blame his behavior on the much-more-illegal hallucinogenic he had taken.
3:30 pm on February 4th, 2010 48
People with legal medical MJ cards that allow instant medication take other drugs too? I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya. It could be he's just a jacka** on pot. Maybe there should be a test for that.
3:38 pm on February 4th, 2010 49
I have no personal experience with pot smoking. Does marijuana cause any adverse effects, like paranoia?
4:00 pm on February 4th, 2010 50
Only if you are worried about your governments ridiculous laws and being prosecuted and imprisoned for ingesting a mostly harmless substance.
5:13 am on February 5th, 2010 51
"People with legal medical MJ cards that allow instant medication take other drugs too?"
Absolutely. I was in Hollywood a few weeks ago. While there, I walked the strip. Both there and Venice Beach have offices set up with some sort of quack doctors issuing medical marijuana cards for a hundred bucks.
There is a list of the conditions posted on signs that you can get diagnosed for… pay your money and get your card. Every 5th store is a head shop.
It's not hidden and it's not a secret.
Of course, drug abusers are attracted to this sort of thing.
So. Yes. I would guess a lot of people with "medical" problems that require "treatment" are just worthless druggies hiding behind a card.
I bet that California card doesn't hold too much weight back east where he will be charged.
12:10 am on March 18th, 2010 52
I have no problem with the publishing of names. However, if the parents were informed from the git-go what is going on in the high school on base, then maybe there would be less of a need to do this all together. But when you have the school pushing it under the carpet, then what are you to do. I say picket the school….go after where it starts….I as a parent control what my child does at home and who they do it with. When they go to school, I expect them to be in a safe environment, one of which the staff cares and enforces what happens in their care!!!!!! I say put more stories on the front page of Stars and Stripes. Let the truth be told!!!
1:00 pm on April 21st, 2010 53
The Times They Are a-Changin'
Yep. Remember when some y'all pooh-poohed my predictions on the future of pot?
Toke on this…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article…
High marijuana use will be credited by future generations with keeping the violence down during the coming social and financial upheavals which will test the integrity of the United States.