On March 30, 2023, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Investigation Unit seizes and publicly reveals drugs ordered and exchanged through Telegram. Starting from the bottom left and moving counterclockwise are marijuana, synthetic marijuana, yaba, methamphetamine (labeled as ice), ketamine (labeled as kay), methamphetamine divided into a tube, marijuana liquid (in a pill container), and synthetic marijuana liquid (in a sealed container), while on the right, wrapped in black insulating tape, are synthetic marijuana, methamphetamine, yaba, and ketamine. These include items packaged before selling LSD, ecstasy, and marijuana. /Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

It has emerged that last year, synthetic cannabis was widespread in forms that were difficult to distinguish from electronic cigarettes in Korea.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's National Forensic Service (NFS) published the 'Drug Evaluation White Paper 2024' on the 25th, analyzing the spread of new drugs.

The total number of drug evaluations requested from the NFS last year for urine, hair, and seized items was 120,703. This is a decrease of 5.2% from the highest figure in 2023 (127,365).

Of this, the number of requests for evaluation of seized items was 54,046, an increase of 12.0% from the previous year (48,172). Requests for evaluations of urine (27,040) and hair (39,617) decreased by 17.0% and 15.0%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The NFS noted, "Drug enforcement appears to have focused more on distributors than on drug abusers."

Among the seized items requested for evaluation last year, the types of drugs detected (30,669) included a significant amount of methamphetamine (13,123), commonly known as 'Philopon', cannabis (2,846), and opium poppy (2,828).

However, the detection of methamphetamine decreased by more than 10% compared to the previous year, while synthetic cannabis (5,650) and semi-synthetic cannabis (882) increased by 7.3% and 1.9%, respectively.

In terms of drug types, the most common form was powdered (8,044), followed by syringes (5,161) and plant (4,594). The syringe form has decreased, while there has been a significant increase in liquid form that can be charged in a cartridge (3,320). The electronic cigarette form (2,058) was also frequently detected.

The NFS explained, "As purchasing electronic cigarettes has become easier, the synthetic cannabis market appears to be growing alongside. Whereas in the past, the method was similar to smoking with cigarettes, it is now rapidly changing to the method known as 'Bvaek' using electronic cigarettes."

Synthetic cannabis was mainly seized from those in their 20s (3,670) and 30s (1,746), while there were 199 cases from teenagers. The NFS stated, "Synthetic cannabis is visually similar to electronic cigarettes that smoke nicotine, leading us to speculate whether abuse is occurring due to the curiosity of adolescents toward smoking cigarettes."