Police detained two Canadian English teachers and booked 37 others, including a Korean English teacher who’d studied abroad and a Thai laborer for drug law violations.
Our Canadian friends — aged 34 and 29 — and the Korean English teacher taught at a Gangnam elementary school and hagwon in the Yongin area.
Police believe it possible the teachers actually taught while chemically impaired, and are investigating the specifics of their habit.
During questioning, the teachers said that between December and February, they liked to spend the weekend partying at techno clubs in Gangnam, Hongdae and Itaewon, drinking booze spiked with ecstasy till the wee hours of the morning.
Police explained that the teachers — unable to thrust away the temptation of the high, making as it did the lights of techno bar appear like a laser light show and giving them that warm, dopey feeling — took to habitually taking the drug.
A police official said that since the effect of ecstasy lasts about a day, and the teachers were partying into the morning hours of the weekend, they might have taught classes while high, adversly affecting their students.
An official at the Gyeonggi-do Office of Education said that foreign English teachers who entered Korea after March 15 must submit a health check, including a drug test, to get a job. The official, noting that teachers sign one-year contracts, said it appears that employment and management regulations for those caught for drug offenses.
The Office of Education noted that as of February, 2,034 foreign English teachers were working as assistant instructors in provincial elementary, middle and high schools. About 10,000 foreigners were working in schools nationwide.
Ecstasy, a popular drug in Europe, goes for about 30,000—50,000 won a tab in Korea. Resident foreigners buy it from local mobile gangs, making detection difficult.
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
And in other news, two native speakers are getting screwed out of millions of won.
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Paging ATEK.
If the ‘ecstacy’ the teachers took was genuine MDMA, then there is no reason to think that their work performance should have been affected negatively. Enhanced perhaps, but definitely not impaired.
The ecstacy high lasts for about 5 hours. The ecstacy down can last a day or more. If they’re doing Es on saturday night, by monday morning they’re just going to be a little tired and a wee bit depressed.
A heavy night on the soju works in a similar way.
The article is typical of the Korean media – no professionalism, lots of innuendo, lots of sensationalism.
I.e., Police believe it possible the teachers actually taught while chemically impaired, and are investigating the specifics of their habit.
Why do the police believe this? They have no reason to. In fact there’s a very good chance the “reporter” just threw that in for fill, and for shock value.
Again:
A police official said that since the effect of ecstasy lasts about a day, and the teachers were partying into the morning hours of the weekend, they might have taught classes while high, adversly affecting their students.
Again, the cop, if he even said this, is speculating wildly, without any actual knowledge about what he’s talking about. There’s no way in hell a kid partying on E on saturday night is going to be under the influence on monday morning, supposing he’s even got class a.m.
More trash. They should be more concerned about bus and taxi drivers on speed.
Hahaha at this headline: “May have taught while high”
“Ecstasy, a popular drug in Europe” and EVERYWHERE else people have money to burn on having a good night out.
How do the Korean police keep catching all of these foreign drug users, but can’t keep 1 moped off the sidewalk?
“Police believe it possible the teachers actually taught while chemically impaired, and are investigating the specifics of their habit.”
This is obvious confession… “They did it while high? Godammmmm… When I drink soju I can barely remember my freekin’ name…”
And if you’re gonna stay high for long periods, you have to double your doses in half-lives… it is possible, just very expensive and very stupid, even by crackhead standards…
Hey, there are some kids that you almost need to be high while trying to teach… Maybe that’s why so many foreign teachers become alcoholics after they arrive in Korea… One does wonder how often the accusations stick amidst the lack of evidence – does it get thrown out or something?
Fantastic.
So 39 people were caught, but the story is about the 2 Canadians? I suppose if the papers didn’t get in their weekly digs at the 위국인 변태 I suppose their heads would explode.
위국인 변태? What could I have been thinking about? I obviously meant 위국인 강사
외
It always kills me when people who have never done any drug attempt to describe the effects and “dangers”. They have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and almost always get it comically wrong.
The “may have taught while high” is, of course, wild speculation and most likely false invention to juice up the story. It’s simply for sensationalism- “may taught while high”= hurting our young, innocent students.
How does being under influence “hurt students” other than the possibility of just teaching poorly? How is that any different than teaching class drunk?
Hell, I’ve been encouraged by my old boss to get wasted during a school luncheon when he knew I had class in the afternoon!
That’s just it- more alcohol= good, drugs= bad.
They focus on the 2 waygook teachers because the old false argument crap “we have to protect the children!”. That argument might hold a little water if the people who were constantly spouting it off actually cared about protecting children!
#6 Because a little bird told me that the drug cops get a very handsome bonus for every drug user they bust. I wasn’t told if the bonus was bigger if the user is a waygook.
Getting a moped off the sidewalk= no bonus.
Hajimama! There are at least two or three Korean teachers that come in to work at the high school still smelling of soju from the night before. They go into the classroom and just say “Ja-sup!”, which means “self-study” and then they veg at the front of the class, sometimes even napping. The other Korean teacher laugh about it as if it was a cultural norm.
My point (yes, actually I have one) is that if the morons in government are going to bust drug users for what they view as harmful behavior, then it is time they started turning over more stones.
Soju is legal. Drugs are not. Maybe some of them should be, but they aren’t. Is anyone going to point out that if you get caught doing drugs in a country with harsh penalties for offenders, it’s your own damn fault? Yes, the article is sensationalised, because their business is to sell newspapers. It would be preferable if foreigners simply abstained from doing drugs for the duration their stay here, instead of giving fuel to the media fire.
Damn straight, Baekgom. Damn straight.
Yes, it is illegal and a dumb thing to do here. Due to the laws and social beliefs, no one should be doing it here.
That being said, we are talking about the hypocrisy of the idea that alcohol= good while weed & X= bad.
The second major hypocrisy is the people who loudly spout “please think of the children” when they actually don’t really care about protecting children- evidenced by their behaviors that either ignore the well being of being or actually put them in harm’s way.
Following the law is a good idea, but what about when the law is hypocritical, outdated, and stupid?
Should we question it or not?
Oops!
“well being of being” change to well being of children
I really wish the comment section had an edit function!
baekgom84,
That is a non-sequitur. Suggesting that people should follow the law is fine, but saying that people should basically shut their mouths and not comment about unscientific statements in the media, or about the reasonableness of prohibition is a different matter. Discussing things does not make one an advocate of law breaking. Questioning statements about 24 hour highs for a drug that is very well known to have a maximum high of around 5 hours is not advocacy.
Plenty of western countries also have harsh drug laws. Ask the millions in prison in the US for example.
Wow, look at all these people rush to the defense of a couple of “teachers” who would stay up all night partying and teach classes the next morning while still high on ecstacy. Amazing. Now I understand why so many of you are against mandatory drug testing for English teachers in Korea.
Benicio, I take it from your posts that you partake of ecsatay and/or marijuana. Do you teach English in Korea? How old are your students? Have you ever been in class while inebriated?
Yes, I’m not suggesting that the article provides any factual basis on the effects of drugs, nor am I suggesting that by challenging the article one is advocating breaking the law. Everyone knows that the Korean media is shockingly biased and full of inaccuracies or even fabricated information; that’s nothing new. But I think this article is pretty tame. Okay, so it’s trying to draw a link between the taking of drugs and ‘let’s protect the children’. Teachers back home are under immense scrutiny as well, and media stories back home involving teachers are often blown out of all proportion. Judging by the amount of articles I’ve seen about Korean students being abused physically, sexually and mentally by their teachers lately, I don’t think there’s a particularly strong bias against foreign teachers either (although how the education boards punish said Korean teachers is a different story…)
I don’t think our drug laws are as harsh as here. Penalties back home tend to focus on the dealers more than the users. I’ve known people back home who’ve received little more than a stern warning for being caught smoking weed. Cops know they have bigger fish to fry.
And which of the laws is outdated? The fact the weed is not yet legal despite being arguably less harmful than alcohol, or the fact that alcohol still is legal despite being harmful period?
Nice logic tinyflowers!
Just because I think it should be legalized, doesn’t mean that I do it.
Eejit!
I did state that if someone where teaching while drunk or under the influence of drugs, then they most likely would be doing a very poor job.
Now, if on their own time- away from school, a teacher were to dabble in a little marijuana or exstacy, how would that make them a bad teacher or a “danger to children”?
According to many Koreans and conservative Americans, that would mean the teacher is of “low moral character” and should not be teaching students.
Where’s the logic of that type of thinking?
It’s illogical and I don’t agree with it.
However, it is the law and the punishment is severe, so I have to follow it.
#21 it’s a morality law, plain and simple.
Most morality laws are stupid as they unfairly pass judgement on what adults should or should not be able to do.
If they are not hurting anyone else, adults should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to do something.
The government telling a discerning adult that they can’t smoke something, can’t watch or listen to something is childish, outdated and stupid!
Benicio,
“Just because I think it should be legalized, doesn’t mean that I do it.”
You stated:
“It always kills me when people who have never done any drug attempt to describe the effects and “dangers”. They have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and almost always get it comically wrong.”
You appeared to be saying that you knew of the effects and dangers of these drugs (as opposed to those who have never taken them).
“According to many Koreans and conservative Americans, that would mean the teacher is of “low moral character” and should not be teaching students.”
I would say that someone who willfully and repeatedly breaks the law IS of questionable moral character, and has no business teaching children. No getting around that, I’m afraid, regardless of the fairness of the laws involved. You don’t get to choose which laws you obey.
Didn’t say that I had never done it.
I don’t do it now/here.
Where’s your brain?
As for breaking the law:
What if the law is stupid and hypocritical?
Should we never question it?
PS- I don’t teach kids.
Even if I did, I certainly would be of no danger to them!
Your poor logic skills might be, though!
shaku,
“saying that people should basically shut their mouths and not comment about unscientific statements in the media”
Who? Where?
“Questioning statements about 24 hour highs for a drug that is very well known to have a maximum high of around 5 hours is not advocacy.”
No, but suggesting that teaching ability can be “enhanced” by the use of illegal drugs sounds like advocacy to me.
From the original post:
Hmm – what does it appear?
tinyflowers, there are law breaking escaped slaves, and law breaking soldiers that refuse to murder prisoners. In regards to laws regarding what goes into your own body, it is the laws themselves that are morally deficient. Locking someone up in prison with murderers and other hardened criminals for smoking a joint or taking a pill is utter barbarity.
tinyflowers,
baekgom84 clarified his statement, so my comment no longer stands.
As for MDMA, I believe it probably would enhance a teachers teaching ability, in the same way steroids enhance an athletes ability. Before you ask, I have had both in the past.
I agree that drug laws are pretty stupid in general, but don’t compare your breaking of the law in a night of fun and debauchery to breaking of the law of a soldier who risks his life to take a moral stand. That’s laughable.
Benicio,
I agree with you to an extent on ‘morality’ laws; for example, I am generally opposed to censorship. But as annoying as those laws can be, someone has to draw a line somewhere, and people are always going to disagree where the line is meant to be drawn. In Australia, the age of legal consent is 18 – who decided that anyway? Is someone who is one month short of 18 more vulnerable than someone who has just turned 18? Of course not, but that’s not the point. You said that adults should be allowed to do whatever they wish as long as they do not hurt others. According to this logic, heroin should be legalized, various safety laws would be abolished such as the compulsory wearing of seatbelts and helmets, and suicide would be legitimized. Just because one is an adult doesn’t mean they have the ability to make good decisions.
I actually do lean towards the legalization of marijuana, even though I don’t smoke it and never have. I don’t accept that it’s a harmless drug though; it’s just less harmful physically than alcohol or tobacco (and I’m not even 100% sure of that). The issue here is that by wilfully breaking an existing law, regardless of whether that law is ‘correct’ or not, two silly people have once again inadvertently continued to propagate the stereotype in Korea that foreigners are all potheads.
I know these two guys…
I could elaborate. a lot.
But I won’t.
Glad my p!ss is clean.
As always.
it’s refreshing to read the thoughtful comments of baekgom. a notch above the usual “blind bashing” comments.
baekgom84, we actually agree more than we disagree.
I do agree that these 2 foreigners are stupid and I do not defend their actions. Foreigners getting busted and making the news hurts all of us. I don’t like that!
We are talking about 2 different subjects at the same time, though.
There are all sorts of strange laws. As you noted, how can someone who is 17 years 364 days old not be mature enough to make personal decisions and be legally responsible for those decisions, when 24 hours later, they are suddenly mature & responsible?
It’s completely illogical, but you asked the question “where do we cross the line?”. Well, that’s a tough one to answer!
I can’t stand hypocrisy and illogical reasoning. It’s immature and stupid.
To say that harmful, addictive drugs like nicotine & alcohol are perfectly fine while less harmful, non-addictive drugs like marijuana & MDMA are “dangerous” is just stupid.
That being said, I do not believe that all illegal drugs are the same. To say that marijuana & MDMA are the same as heroin & cocaine is also stupid.
However, that’s just what the governments of the U.S. and South Korea say- they are all class 1 “most dangerous” drugs.
This classification is based on antiquated morality rules and the false logic of “protecting the children”.
Some laws are eternal, but most should be reviewed and ammended as society & culture change.
“Just because one is an adult doesn’t mean they have the ability to make good decisions.”
You are 100% correct on this.
As a libertarian, though, I feel that governments go way too far in legislating morality and telling adults what they can’t do, even if they are not harming others.
When it comes to things like doing highly addictive drugs and not wearing your seatbelt, I’m torn. People are well informed of the dangers they face when undertaking these activities.
Why is it the government and society’s responsiblity to “protect” them from their own stupidity?
If they want to throw people into prison, then they should at least prove how the children were harmed by the teachers taking drugs. Otherwise they have nothing on the teachers other than the teachers consuming a possibly (but probably not) harmful substance – taking of which is certainly less harmful to their bodies than a stint in prison. Or there is the buying of the drugs – a mutually agreeable exchange between a heroic drug vendor and a satisfied customer. Where exactly is the crime in that?
Comment #15, by baekgom84, is the best of the bunch. Well said! And Robert, a nice second!
My own thoughts: what’s up with the Libertarians always expecting people in other countries to adhere to (American) Libertarian values? There’s a reason so many American cities have huge no-go zones, while Korean cities are among the safest in the world!
As a Westcoast Canadian, I’d like to add something else. I used to drive through Vancouver’s downtown east side every work day for a few months. There are literally thousands of homeless people in Vancouver, and it’s easy to see that most of them are there because of illegal drug use. (Yes, tragically, many are also there because of mental illness or financial problems.) Taken collectively, illegal drugs are the bane of civilized society, and while not all have equal effects, they do exact a cost.
I say: Korea, prosecute illegal drug users to the fullest extent of the law, and deport the idiots who use illegal drugs while here. Ban them for life, publish their names. Keep your country beautiful and safe. Meanwhile, drug- happy-baggy-pants types: stick to your American digs.
–or “Canadian digs,” as the case may be. But frankly, I’ve no time for such on Canadian soil either.
Morality laws are generally based on emotions lacking reason and illogical fallacies.
In the case of many drug laws, the logical fallacies are pretty ridiculous:
1) The belief that drugs are “immoral”- people like my grandmother who truly believe that the marijuana plant is somehow evil and is connected with the devil. You can’t scientifically prove evil or the existence of Satan. It is merely an emotion and an unnecessarily scary one for many.
2) The belief that anyone who takes a drug or has ever taken a drug is a bad person. What exactly is it that makes them a bad person, say worse than someone who drinks alcohol?
3) The belief that since alcohol is legal, it must be okay and drugs are illegal, so they must be bad. This is just ridiculous reasoning! They are either both bad or both okay.
4) The belief that drug users are somehow corrupting children. How exactly is this happening? Where are the actual cases of adults pushing drugs onto kids? In the U.S., it’s the myth of the schoolyard pusher- the completely fictional fear that there are actually drug dealers hanging around schoolyards attempting to hook kids on drugs. Kids get drugs from either family members or someone they know. It’s the kids going to get the drugs because they want them, not some sinister criminals pushing drugs on kids.
When they pull out the “we need to protect the children” argument, it is simply an appeal to emotion that is usually not based on any logical reasoning. They know most people will fall for it as children really stir up emotions.
5) The belief that drug users/buyers are supporting criminal enterprises-gangs. Well, their illegality ensures that the only people willing to traffic them in significant amounts would be criminal enterprises. Legalization would remove those opportunities for the criminal enterprises- remove a major source of their income and power.
There you have 5 major logical fallacies that are used to continue support for the criminalization of drugs.
Legal does NOT equal moral. Only incredibly STUPID animals believe that law equals morality.
Benicio74, I haven’t heard any of your reasons given by any self-respecting person I’ve ever met. I smell a straw-man.
#37 We all know that many times the drug life is not a pretty picture.
What distresses me is that the war on drugs focuses infinitely more on arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations and far too little on remedying the situations you have described in Vancouver.
I do not endorse a “free for all” drugs all around policy either.
I believe that we should take a lot of those resources and focus on treatment/rehab programs, more educational programs for kids instead of empty “Just Say No” and “DARE” programs.
Focus on helping addicts and fixing conditions that encourage desperate addictions rather than spending most of the time and resources on putting users in jail.
As for cultural relativity, I had no idea that libertarian ideology was strictly American- it is not!
Political ideology knows no geographic boundaries.
Would you tell a socialist that they should not espouse/promote socialism in the U.S. because it is not the American way? Would you tell them that they should only do that in a place where it is “acceptable”, say Cuba?
Really don’t understand your reasoning on this.
NathanB, by your reasoning, because you’ve never heard it before from someone you respect, does that automatically make it wrong?
NathanB,
Libertarianism is not the cause of US crime rates and no-go areas. Don’t be silly.
Benicio74′s points have been made by experts in the field that are arguing against the war on drugs from social and economic standpoints. Millions of people in the US have been imprisoned for victimless drug crimes, and many of them are black. No wonder many blacks think that the war on drugs is a war on black people.
The war on drugs is damaging civil liberties. Police forces have become militarized to the extent that many use military hardware. Police forces are also using excessive force and initimation tactics against the public, such as the massacre of family pets in raided homes, something that happens so often that it is a noticeable trend.
If you think that anyone should go to prison, a true hell on earth whatever else may be said, for smoking some pot, taking some pills, or supplying such to some friends, you are a monster. What did they ever do to you? Nothing. So why are you in their business? There is no rational way you can answer that.
When it comes to drug policy, there are two models, Amsterdam and Singapore. Each one occupies extreme opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of liberalization and both are highly effective in their own societies.
In Singapore, drug traffickers are hanged. Users are caned.
Here’s what one Singaporean had to say:
We have a right to protect our people. If we have to hang a couple of Australians, Nigerians and even some of our own people to do so, so be it. May it be known to all that drugs are not welcome here, and if people get executed for trafficking, their blood is on their own hands (or perhaps that of the drug lords they work for).
I propose Korea should adopt the excellent Singaporean model.
NetizenKim, you have an interesting point about different cultures benefitting from different policies.
However, how do you feel about the hypocrisy of a nation demonizing drug use while totally embracing and even encouraging rampant alcoholism?
Hanging drug dealers/users while guzzling soju doesn’t seem like a healthy solution!
You don’t get to choose which laws you obey.
Actually, in non-fascist societies you do get to choose. In fact, you have a responsibility to do so.
I propose Korea should adopt the excellent Singaporean model.
So you want to bring back the death penalty in South Korea? Proving that you are at least 12 years behind the times? DJ Kim put a moratorium on it in 1997. Why are you even more reactionary than real Koreans? Perhaps because Korea is, to you, an idealized place that you no longer understand. And executing smugglers? Do you agree with everything else about Singapore? I guess that makes you a throwback to an era before 1997. A non-democratic era. Good luck finding support for that from young people in South Korea today.
As for me, I actually do not think people should be popping E. I don’t like it, I view it as a hard drug even though I know it seems relatively benign. Weed? Why the hell not smoke weed? If you can sit at Tapgol and slam Cass Red in your underpants in a puddle of your own spit and cigarette butts at 3 pm on a Saturday, why can’t you smoke a joint? Do not however, confuse me with the legalizers. That would make it too expensive. Chaos reigns and I like it.
Why are you even more reactionary than real Koreans? Perhaps because Korea is, to you, an idealized place that you no longer understand.
It’s really a binary choice. Either become an Amsterdam or Singapore. If a society decides to go the half-assed middle ground router, then they’ll end up like the US, where War on Drugs has produced homeless, over-filled prisons, a criminal underground, ghettos and at least a couple of federal bureaucracies spending millions of tax dollars to fight this war and accomplishing nothing.
I don’t really see Korea going the Amsterdam route. So the only the other option left. Besides, I really wouldn’t mind seeing a few Canadian Engrish potheads getting caned once in a while.
Benicio74, you wrote:
Actually, I used the word “self-respecting.” Really, though, except for your 5th point, *who* exactly is saying these things? To take each of the first four points:
1 & 2. Most people in civilized societies don’t believe in Satan, a few grandmothers (yours and mine, alas), excepted. Most normal people do not consider drug users as “evil” or “immoral,” but as probably deprived, distressed, victimized, or short-sighted.
3. Again, most of us know that alcohol is a drug–a legal one, as you say. We know that most people can enjoy this particular legal drug more or less responsibly, while some cannot. Meanwhile, to say–of, for example, wine and crack cocaine–that “they are either both bad or both okay” is to grossly simplify the picture to the point of ridiculousness. Are the effects of each of these drugs on the bulk of their users the same? This seems to be your implication.
4. Drugs are certainly corrupting some children, but I’m sure you would agree we wouldn’t want widespread experimentation by children. If the accessibility and legality of hard drugs increases, it would seem natural that demand would rise also. (Incidentally, I wouldn’t know anything about playground “pushers,” not having seen any in action, but I have heard stories of very young people who began the road to (metaphorical!) hell with cocaine. Or perhaps today’s “pushers” are the widely emulated drug-addled celebrities whom so many kids adore. But wouldn’t you agree that we’d all be better off if everyone simply enjoyed the natural highs of life?
Sorry–close the bracket just before “But wouldn’t.”
–
In #45, Shakuhachi wrote:
I’m not sure that I actually said this, but I do believe there is indeed a strong connection, though likely one of correlation rather than causation. American society prioritizes individual rights over one’s responsibilities to society–at least when compared to other countries, like, say, Japan.
Apologies to Netizen Kim regarding his comment #45; I was addressing #44, of course. (Whew!)
Meanwhile, I note with surprise the “logic” of the equivocators who would put, say, cocaine and cocktails on the same level. Common sense anyone?
Perhaps this whole discussion would make more sense if people would specifically name which “drugs” they want legalized. Then we could talk with specifics.
Meanwhile, the same folks who want “drugs” legalized seem to have a very Puritanical view of alcohol. If you consider alcohol a “harmful drug,” then it makes sense to prohibit it or at least discourage it rather than legalizing all hard drugs. On the other hand, if alcohol is viewed (correctly) as a mainstream part of most healthy societies, the picture changes. Frankly, I think the comparison of “drugs” to alcohol (which some call a “drug”) is the misplaced result of a terminological problem which is used rather self-servingly to justify a desired political end.
Finally, it seems to me that Korean society does not suffer from “alcoholism” in the same way that countries like Russia and the US do. That should be pause for reflection: Korean society works and functions pretty well for most of its members; I wouldn’t make the same claim with confidence for either Russia or the US.
In #42, Benicio74 wrote:
I am very glad to read the first sentence, Benicio74; I am also very curious about the meaning of the second sentence as I am not familiar with the programs you named. But wouldn’t “educational programs” naturally and usually be aimed at discouraging youngsters from trying crystal meth, cocaine, and the like?
As for programs to treat addictions and substance-related problems, they come too late to be of much help to anyone. Prevention trumps treatment of those who usually don’t accept it anyways.
Countries like South Korea and Japan are fortunate not to have the drug problems of the West. As Korean and Japanese societies change, their leaders and citizens should think carefully about whether all western norms and behaviors are healthy and “beneficial.”
A follow-up to and part retraction of my comment #51:
Apologies, Benicio74: I read your comment #35 and see that you do indeed make the distinction in question.
I think it’s more important to discuss how the media is highlighting the arrest of 2 foreigners in this recent sweep while at the same time downplaying the fact that 35 Koreans was also arrested.
were
I’m talking about about the hypocritically stupid policies of the U.S. and South Korea in demonizing drugs while acting as if alcohol is perfectly fine don’t work.
The war on drugs hasn’t been a spectacular failure- time to try something new.
NathanB, do you really believe this:
“it seems to me that Korean society does not suffer from “alcoholism” in the same way that countries like Russia and the US do.”
All I can say is WOW! Korea suffers from a very serious alcoholism problem!
How could anyone not know this?
“Countries like South Korea and Japan are fortunate not to have the drug problems of the West.”
While there are no crackheads or drug ghettos here, philopon (speed) addiction is a big problem that people don’t like to talk about.
You seem to be stating that those who feel a rethinking/change in drug policies is in order endorse a free for all everbody do drugs environment with kids experimenting as they wish and also total acceptance of the drug ghettos and crime/desperation problems that go along with it.
This is just completely wrong!
No matter what, people will always wanted to get f*cked up. That’s a reality of life.
My rethinking of drug policies is merely a focus on helping people rather than focusing on putting them in jail.
Someguy,
That’s the first thing I noticed, too. As is often discussed on this blog, things involving foreigners have an “exotic” slant to them, and media uses that their advantage.
Although, there never seems to be any reporters around when foreigners are organizing environmental clean-ups and tutoring orphans.
I love how you dead-enders try to logically make law breaking correct for your own sake. How would you like it if the Korean or pick a race of people came to Canada and took a shit on your laws? I thank sweet baby Jesus that my kids are not under your care. You give fuel to the trolls and you make them right! Go smoke pot in B.C. or L.A., you are making the shaven expats look bad. Grow-up!
Koreans
Benicio74, you wrote:
Given the ubiquity of hard alcohol in Korean society, it would be surprising if the country did not have a problem at some level with alcoholism. There is a significant difference, though, between having “a very serious problem” and having a problem to the extent that Russia and the US have. In Russia, the average life expectancy for men is under 60 years. Alcoholism is usually cited as the primary cause of Russian males’ low life expectancy, as, for instance, in this this Guardian article.
As for the US, it has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and many of those incarcerated types have committed crimes of passion while under the influence of alcohol.
“My rethinking of drug policies is merely a focus on helping people rather than focusing on putting them in jail.”
Benicio74, I’m very glad that you have an essentially humanitarian motivation. I just don’t think, though, that drug policy in South Korea needs a rethink along more liberal lines. The problems in the US that underlie your sentiments do not exist to anywhere near the same extent in Korean society, and the powers that be in Korea ought to ensure that things stay that way.
Besides, I really wouldn’t mind seeing a few Canadian Engrish potheads getting caned once in a while.
Well, I have been back in Canada for 5 months now. Despite smoking far more pot than almost anyone else and drinking very little soju, Canadians seem happier and healthier than Koreans. I’m not just saying that, it simply seems like a nicer place to be. Perhaps Korea needs more weed.
…and your own opinion in this matter is entirely unbiased, right Mao?
I respectfully request that anyone not familiar with LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) read what they have to say about the utter failure of prohibition.
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
Note that these brave men and women of law enforcement have put their careers at risk by speaking up. The least we can do is listen to what they are saying.
P.S. Strike a blow for justice. Boycott Singapore Airlines, as I have since 2005. They used to be my mainstay airline, but Singapore’s flag carrier hasn’t gotten one penny from me since executing young Mr. Nguyen Tuong Van.
It upsets me to even think about that sad situation. I think I’ll head out to the Red Barn here on a Friday night, after a week of hard work, and burn one. Why that should be of concern to anyone other than my immediate family and friends (who happen to be okay with it), I do not know.
kpmsprtd,
Because some people would rather that you get ass raped in prison than be free to smoke a reefer. How sick the prohibitionists are!
#58 “The war on drugs hasn’t been a spectacular failure”
Make that HAS been a spectacular failure!
I am guilty of some serious typos!
Well, Linkd. This blog is as close as I am going to get to Korea for a very loooong time. so, no. No bias.
Hey Mao, why in the hell would you need to BE in Korea to be biased in favor of your own countrymen? (or the west, for that matter, since I presume you consider yourself a western person)
Heck, I’ll be the first one to admit I’m biased against snooty comments by expats who don’t intend on residing in Korea for very long…and I’m nowhere near that country.
# And yet, you’re your happy making snooty assumptions and comments about people living in another country, which from previous comments you don’t even intend to visit. The irony
Hey Arghaeri, don’t worry, I am equally skeptical and scornful of koreans who visit western countries for short periods, when they run their mouths for no reason or rhyme other than to cop a cheap feeling of superiority or ethnic pride. Seriously, can’t you imagine how ignorant these koreans would be of western culture, when they can’t even properly speak or understand english!?
Yeah, well, that’s exactly how I think of a lot of these expats in korea. Of course, they can be gyopo expats too, the race don’t make the slightest difference to me.
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