Is NK nation of addicts?
Amidon, a variation of addictive drug Methadone, is spreading rapidly among ordinary North Koreans.
North Korea’s desperate measure to salvage its destitute economic condition is close to turning the country into a nation of addicts.
Amidon, a variation of addictive drug Methadone, is spreading rapidly among ordinary North Koreans, Daily NK reported Jan. 17.
“People are dumping all their household goods at the market to get their hands on [the drug]. Many are now warning others, ‘Whatever you do, don’t touch Amidon. Death is the only way to quit,’” the Daily quoted a dealer, living in Hamhung, South Hamkyung Province, as saying.
In a non-economic country, selling drugs is the only way to make a living for many of the middlemen, and many others are following in their tracks.
In 1992, when Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, was alive, he officially made the production and distribution of poppies as a national source of income, under the name of “Balloon Flower Business.”
The demands from China and Southeast Asia were steady, and the cash made from the trade was, and still is, one of a few lifelines of their failing economy.
The authorities who are responsible for the production and distribution of the drugs were caught using them several times.
The attitude towards the possible consequences of getting caught is that it is not too much to pay for, since bribery has deeply permeated throughout the country, according to the source.
Most of the drugs are produced in Hamhung, where more than 60 percent of the city locals have related jobs, he added.
North Korean diplomats as well as high ranking officials stationed in foreign countries are known to be complicit in profiting from the drug business by having casinos involved.
Kim Jong-un is known to strategize in his scheme to make the drug pass as medicine to make its trade legal, the source added.
The so-called “Ice,” heroine and philopon are known to be produced in Ranam Pharmaceutical Factory in Chongjin, North Hamkyung Province.