Korea vows to fight spread of fentanyl

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By Jung Min-ho

The government has vowed to stop the spread of hallucinogenic drugs, particularly fentanyl, amid a surge in drug crimes in recent years.

At a meeting, Friday, attended by all related government ministries, Bang Moon-kyu, minister for government policy coordination, said the country is now “at a crossroads” between two starkly different paths.

“Korea now stands at a crossroads of becoming either a drug-contaminated country or reverting to a drug-free country,” he said. “The government will try its best to help the country regain its drug-free status with strong measures against illegal drugs.”

Developing a policy strategy against fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid drug that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, was one of the main focuses of the meeting. Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) continued to rise in the U.S. with 70,601 overdose deaths reported in 2021, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

High-ranking officials reviewed the risks of fentanyl spreading in Korea and discussed ways to increase resources both to fight drug crimes and to help those addicted recover quickly with state support. All of officials also called for the need to step up efforts to raise public awareness of the dangers posed by such drugs in order to curb a worrying trend, especially among young people.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the number of drug offenders in January and February stood at about 2,600, up 32.4 percent from the same period last year. People in their teens and 20s accounted for 34.2 percent, a jump from about 16 percent in 2017.

Eradicating drug crimes has been one of the key pledges of Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, who has reinforced cooperation with other countries in that effort.