By The most commonly abused drug in South Korea remains methamphetamines:
Korea has a higher proportion of users of methamphetamine compared to other drugs than the West, a straw poll indicates.
In a survey of 523 drug addicts led by Prof. Kim Dae-jin at Catholic University of Korea’s College of Medicine and commissioned by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, methamphetamine was the most commonly abused substance. In North America and Europe, the percentage of cocaine, heroin and marijuana is much higher than of methamphetamine, which is more damaging to the brain. [Chosun Ilbo]
I recommend everyone take a look at my 2007 round up of drug statistics in Korea which shows that meth was the most popular drug back then to in Korea. Interestingly enough farmers and the unemployed were the largest groups of people using drugs.
According to the article over 50% of the meth smuggled into Korea originates from China. What I am most curious about is where is the meth produced that is coming in from China? Could it be North Korea?
10:25 am on April 8th, 2010 1
The meth in Missouri or Oklahoma is SOOOO much better than Chinese meth…
10:41 am on April 8th, 2010 2
Meth is becoming to rural Whites what crack became to urban Blacks.
Some day someone's going to wake up to the horrible problem we have and impose a Chinese opium solution on meth heads.
Jeff, seriously, is there any such thing as good meth?
11:02 am on April 8th, 2010 3
I've been involved in helping some meth addicts in the US get off the stuff (my daughter became addicted in the late 90's, but is now clean – thank God) and I've seen first hand what it can do to a person. People go from being healthy, intelligent, productive members of society to being conniving thieves that will do whatever it takes to keep the high going. Those that smoke it have a hard enough time getting off the stuff, but once a person becomes a shooter, it's almost impossible to help them.
12:28 pm on April 8th, 2010 4
Don't let meth ruin your life in Korea!
Look for these obvious warning signs of severe meth abuse in the people around you.
- work or study for long hours with little sleep
- speaks in a way that is hard to understand
- aggressive actions such as on an elevator or subway platform
- quick or erratic driving
- possessing a slim build
If you know anybody with these warning signs report them immediately to the Korea National Drug Hotline.
48,000,000 operators are standing by.
12:34 pm on April 8th, 2010 5
It has been my observation that the most commonly abused drugs here are tobacco (nicotene) and alcohol (ethanol)- both extremely widespread. But these drugs are legal/socially acceptable, so maybe that is why the article is misleading.
1:40 pm on April 8th, 2010 6
Don't expect to see those numbers included when the majority of those doing the tallying are smokers and drinkers.
2:03 pm on April 8th, 2010 7
I would say the number one indication that someone is misusing meth is if they are trying to shoot it in their arm. The correct use is smoking it in crystal form or eating it in pill form.
2:52 pm on April 8th, 2010 8
I know there is a tendency among pot smokers to suggest marijuana consumption is no more dangerous than alcohol, and probably less, but is that what you're suggesting with methamphetamine?
2:54 pm on April 8th, 2010 9
The correct use? So are you saying that if it's smoked in crystal form or eaten, its consumption is acceptable?
I know there is a tendency among pot smokers to suggest marijuana use rarely or never leads to addiction or problematic behavior, but is that what you're suggesting with methamphetamine? Is there a large or small or nearly nonexistent danger that smoking it or oral consumption will lead to problematic consumption by injection?
3:03 pm on April 8th, 2010 10
Do actually think these people are being serious?!
3:22 pm on April 8th, 2010 11
I think it's possible some of them are. And that's what I'm trying to find out.
11:38 pm on April 8th, 2010 12
That was a joke.
2:24 am on April 9th, 2010 13
People involved with drugs do distinguish the scale of usage; From recreational to habitual to full blown addiction. Recreational users will say they are in complete control and can choose to use only occasionally and can stop using for long periods of time without feeling a need. When they get to be a habitual user, they lose some that control or choice.
So I guess what Mr. Barbour is saying is, if someone is doing meth by injection they are almost certainly an addict.
2:29 am on April 9th, 2010 14
I've seen that – somewhat. Many will continue to smoke meth because, as you indicate, they believe as long as they are smoking they aren't a "true addict". But the results are pretty much the same no matter. Most that turn to the needle do so because it's cheaper than smoking (doesn't take as much to get the rush).
2:47 am on April 9th, 2010 15
Most turn to the needle because the high is better. Heroine is a perfect example of this.
4:23 am on April 9th, 2010 16
Addiction is chronic and progressive.
4:55 am on April 9th, 2010 17
I'm quite familiar with addiction… especially meth addiction and I agree. It's also a very hard drug to get off of because the recovery time is so long.
12:50 pm on April 10th, 2010 18
What I was saying is that the newspaper reporter should have acknowledged the real drug problem here: alcohol (ethanol) and cigarette (nicotene) addiction. I'm not saying that meth addiction is a good thing, but rather that these two are the real killers/social problems here.
12:55 pm on April 10th, 2010 19
The Korean media is full of reports on alcohol problems and cigarette consumption. As good as ROK Drop is, I hope you don't get all your Korea news from K-blogs.
1:28 pm on April 10th, 2010 20
Actually I read the article first in the Chosun Ilbo, then I saw it later on ROK drop. Yes, I do see cigarette/alcohol articles occasionally; just saying I was struck by the extreme inaccuracy of both the doctors statement and the follow-up reporting thereof by the reporter.
1:37 pm on April 10th, 2010 21
Well, almost certainly they are translating from 마약 or something with similar nuance, and alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine are legal so they aren't considered mayak. While alcohol and nicotine do have health, social, and legal problems associated with them, they are a different animal than the wholly illegal chemicals on the other side, so I'm not going to fault the reporter and the doc for addressing only illegal substances in a 마약 story.
2:06 pm on April 10th, 2010 22
Yes, good point, but if it was a translation error the reporter (or whomever translated the original story to English) should have said "the most commonly abused 'illegal' substance." No need to publish clearly erroneous information. A drug is a drug, no matter if it is legal or illegal, after all.
9:00 pm on April 10th, 2010 23
About 8 or 9 years ago, Korea changed its laws to require a doctor's prescription to purchase strong drugs in the drug store. Before that, a Korean could walk into a pharmacy and purchase whatever they said they needed. That was the main reason Korean pharmacies had always been off-limits to GIs.
Many of us had witnessed serious drug abuse by bar-girls from these 'legal' drugs they gave a slang name that sounded like ee-pu-nee.
4:34 pm on April 11th, 2010 24
No, I don't think he's suggesting anything about how dangerous any of them are. Rather, the claim that meth is the "most commonly abused substance".
Most commonly abused ILLEGAL substance, maybe, but not most common.