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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 1:19 am Post subject: Does Busan have a drug problem? |
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| I was in Busan a few weeks ago and I noticed signs on the subway that said "마약 없는 행복한 부산" (or something to that effect). Does Busan have a drug problem? If so, what kind(s) of drug(s), and how widespread is it? |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 3:10 am Post subject: |
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There was a Korean movie called "Bloody Ties" about a drug dealer in Busan. Apparently during the IMF crisis drug use went up. I think meth was the drug of choice. Wouldn't be surprised if there is H and scrips out there too.
Every once in a while I'll walk by some Koreans who REALLY give off the meth head vibe. Even met one with black top teeth and was really twitchy. All the NETs were hanging out and one of our Korean friends had a friend from HS drop by. THAT friend had another dude meet up with him after hearing he was with foreigners. Dude showed up, was twitchy, had meth teeth, was looking at everyone but had zero interest in our innocent fun. No one really noticed, but me and our Korean friend kept looking at him until finally I mentioned that the dude wasn't right. He agreed and we both thought that he was a meth head or the like. The dude bailed before anything could happen. I guess he could tell we weren't a druggie crowd. Afterwards me and our friend made it clear to the HS friend to never bring that guy around again.
It's out there. It may be underground, but it's out there. |
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thrylos
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:00 am Post subject: |
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Out of all the drugs out there, it would only make sense that Koreans choose the nastiest, vilest, most worthless one to use. 
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| I think meth was the drug of choice. |
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sml7285
Joined: 26 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| thrylos wrote: |
Out of all the drugs out there, it would only make sense that Koreans choose the nastiest, vilest, most worthless one to use.
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| I think meth was the drug of choice. |
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Probably because it's the easiest to obtain ingredients for. |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:33 am Post subject: |
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| I've never seen any drugs in Busan. |
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Sister Ray
Joined: 25 Mar 2006
Location: Fukuoka
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 6:33 am Post subject: |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| I've never seen any drugs in Busan. |
When I was in Busan in the early 2000s quite a few people I'd meet would have tobacco rolled in hash oil. Apparently they were getting it from Russian seamen. I also thought on more than a few occasions I could smell pot around the nightlife areas of Oncheonjang.
But, indeed Busan's most pressing drug problem is a distinct lack thereof. |
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crescent
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: yes.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 6:41 am Post subject: |
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The Korean drug of choice is in fact meth, and it's still a problem. I know the head prosecutor for Daegu and he said that smuggling/importing is on the rise.
Through other acquaintances and first hand observations I also know here has been a steady flow of drugs through Busan since I arrived in Korea 12 years ago. If you know where to look, especially on Texas street, you can find connections to meth, hash and to a much lesser extent, Ex.
Drugs were easy to get around the months surrounding World Cup, but people began getting caught en masse and the market tightened up. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:50 am Post subject: |
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I wonder if it'd be possible for a Korean Walter White to get a lab going. I wonder if they'd have the same restrictions on like sudafed and other stuff, and if anyone here would be conditioned to regard a strange industrial smell as a sign of a meth lab.
I guess the hardest part would be for the person selling it because the Korean mob would get wind and they'd get all territorial.
But yeah, a meth head is a meth head no matter what the country. Wouldn't be surprised if they're responsible for a lot of the B&Es in Korea and stuff like that. |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| I wonder how much meth is here. It's cheap as hell in the States, so a favorite among poor whites. Strange though that poor black people prefer crack over meth. |
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crescent
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: yes.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| optik404 wrote: |
| I wonder how much meth is here. It's cheap as hell in the States, so a favorite among poor whites. Strange though that poor black people prefer crack over meth. |
Back in the years proximal to the end of the world cup there was a variety of meth in pill form sold between 20-25,000won each. Yaba was one of the cheaper ones. I don't know if the prices were lower for Koreans or not.
Exstacy was 25-35,000 per pill. Hash ranged anywhere from 50,000won for a three gram brick of black tar, to 70,000 for a disc shaped gram of middle-eastern yellow.
There were 2 major routes in; either through American military smugglers, or cargo ships. I often wonder why now, in the era of TOR, the dark web and anonymous black markets, there isn't much more available. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, you don't see stupid petty crimes like robbing convenience stores, muggings, smash and grabs, and toothless chicks doing prostitution here. (Yes, there's lots of the last one here, though for different reasons.) There is something to be said about the lack of drugs in society overall. If a lot of these drugs were erradicated from western society, a lot of the crime would go away with it. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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Sister Ray
Joined: 25 Mar 2006
Location: Fukuoka
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If a lot of these drugs were erradicated from western society, a lot of the crime would go away with it. |
But that is, of course, impossible. Better to decriminalise, so prices normalise like the currently legal drugs (alcohol, nicotine etc.) Then addicts can lead a more normalised existence akin to a functional alcoholic. See Switzerland's heroin prescription programme. Harm minimisation.
Methamphetamine is undeniably a nasty one, but perhaps if alternatives were similarly available and priced it would become less attractive.
Prohibition has never, and will never, work. People like to get high. Be that via booze or barbiturates. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Sister Ray wrote: |
| Prohibition has never, and will never, work. People like to get high. Be that via booze or barbiturates. |
Well it seems to work in various Asian countries. But I think Asian countries have different social ideologies, and just pure geographical size (or lack of in Asia) may be big factors that help keep drug use low. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Like I said, even in my small town in Korea you'd see some people from time to time who just screamed junkie. Not as much as back home, but Korea ain't the total drug free zone some ppl think it is.
You also have a lot of wannabe hip hop types who blow lots of won on crappy Mexican brown and get high (if they even do) once or twice in their life to say they've done it, but I don't really count those. Meth/H heads and housewives on prescriptions is what I'd put my money on, based on what I've heard.
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Methamphetamine is undeniably a nasty one, but perhaps if alternatives were similarly available and priced it would become less attractive.
Prohibition has never, and will never, work. |
Again, as I mentioned on the gun thread, this is a supply-side view of the problem. The reason drugs are less popular in some countries vs. others is not so much one of supply, it's one of demand. There's less demand here. I think much of that depends on the social acceptance of one's peers towards drugs. In Korea, there's not as many peer-groups that would accept and tolerate someone doing drugs as back home. There are some, but not as many. Also, I'm willing to bet that China, Korea, and Japan have a certain governmental disposition towards drugs from the Opium wars and what happened there. |
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