"ID? Not Required"...Warehouse Pharmacies Fueling Drug Misuse

Sold Without ID Verification or Medication Counseling
Even Drugs Linked to Teen Deaths Easily Accessible
Teen Drug Poisoning Cases Rise 35% Over Five Years

"Just take all but one or two packs. Then I won't need to get your contact information."

On April 13, at a warehouse-style pharmacy in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, a customer poured 10 packs (100 tablets) of a diphenhydramine-based sleep aid—known to have caused teen fatalities overseas—onto the counter. The pharmacist hesitated, saying, "Technically, from 10 packs and up, I’m supposed to get your name and phone number..." However, when the customer agreed to take just two fewer packs, the purchase went through immediately without any ID check or even minimal medication counseling. The process was no different from buying a regular consumer product.

In a warehouse-style pharmacy in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, medications including sleep aids known for being used in teenage 'Overdose (OD) Parties' are displayed. Photo by Jee-Ye Lee

As 'Overdose (OD) Parties' have become a trend among teenagers both in Korea and abroad, warehouse-style pharmacies—where large quantities of medication can be purchased with little oversight—have been identified as a regulatory blind spot. Unlike conventional pharmacies, where pharmacists recommend or suggest medications based on symptoms, these warehouse-style pharmacies operate on a self-service model, allowing customers to pick out their own products. There are virtually no restrictions on bulk purchases, fueling concerns that this structure encourages medication misuse and abuse.

According to the pharmaceutical industry as of April 21, there are more than 30 warehouse-style pharmacies nationwide, with at least nine located in Seoul alone. When reporters checked five such pharmacies in Seoul to see if sleep aids and cold medicines—commonly used at OD parties—could be purchased in bulk, not one had procedures for ID verification or purchase limits. One pharmacy said, "Sleep aids are not a problem unless you’re buying 20 to 30 packs at once," while another advised, "Because we need to bring stock from the warehouse, please call ahead if you need large quantities."

Warehouse-style pharmacies sell medications up to 30% cheaper than regular pharmacies. This aggressive pricing has made them popular among teenagers as places where they can buy medicine without scrutiny. On social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), recipes are even being shared for mixing dozens of tablets of specific medications with high-caffeine drinks to induce a dazed or hallucinogenic state. A regular participant in OD parties, identified as "A" (18), revealed, "It’s easier to buy here because they’re not as strict as neighborhood pharmacies."

According to the National Health Insurance Service, while the number of drug poisoning patients overall only increased by 0.7% over the past five years (from 15,789 in 2021 to 15,894 in 2025), the number of teenage patients surged by 35.0% (from 1,619 to 2,185) during the same period. This rate of increase is more than 50 times higher than the overall average. Notably, while male adolescent patients increased from 295 to 408, the number of female adolescent patients rose even more sharply, from 1,324 to 1,777.

Medicines displayed at a warehouse pharmacy in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, with customers pulling carts among them. Photo by Jiyé Lee

The main drugs used in OD parties, which can be obtained at warehouse-style pharmacies, are classified by the Korean Pharmaceutical Association as over-the-counter medicines requiring caution for minors. Active ingredients such as diphenhydramine and doxylamine found in sleep aids can paralyze the brain’s neurotransmitter system if overdosed, causing delirium or hallucinations. They can also lead to permanent damage requiring lifelong dialysis. Acetaminophen, found in some pain relievers, has been linked to fatalities among teenagers, warranting extra caution. In addition, more than 20 other ingredients are classified as hazardous substances.

There are growing concerns that the spread of warehouse-style pharmacies—where potentially lethal drugs can be purchased freely—could worsen not only teenage drug abuse but also overall societal misuse of medications. A representative of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association warned, "Medications should only be taken when medically necessary, but the structure of warehouse-style pharmacies encourages bulk buying as if they were consumer goods, inevitably leading to pathological outcomes. Especially given the high risk of misuse among teenagers, this could push society toward normalizing the idea of 'medicating kids.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.