"Imitating Drugs with Cold Medicine"... Education Office Fumbles Amid Horrific 'Overdose Parties'

Council Member Kim Jinnam warns of the seriousness: "Easily available in large quantities"
Calls for improvements to irresponsible aftercare that ends with referrals to institutions

So-called "Overdose Parties," where teenagers buy large quantities of over-the-counter medicines and misuse them to induce hallucinations, are spreading. Sharp criticism has been raised that education authorities are focused merely on ticking off their prevention education requirements.

At an administrative audit of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Office of Education held on November 13, Council Member Kim Jinnam (Democratic Party of Korea, Suncheon 5) highlighted the state of drug use and medication abuse among teenagers and strongly urged the education office to establish a substantive, comprehensive defense system.

Kim Jinnam, a member of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council.

Kim opened by pointing to the growing ease with which teenagers can access drugs through social media and other channels. "Teenagers can easily buy large quantities of sleep aids and allergy medicines that could be misused to make drugs at so-called 'warehouse-style pharmacies,'" he said. "The situation is so serious that 'Overdose Parties,' where they take excessive amounts of these medicines and gather while hallucinating, are spreading like slang," he said, expressing concern.

By contrast, it emerged that the education authorities' response has not kept pace with the severity of the situation on the ground. The Gwangju office said it had "provided prevention education to 35,000 people this year," but only 36 students had actually been referred to addiction management centers.

The Jeonnam office, meanwhile, identified only 38 cases of students at risk due to drug use over the past three years. Even those cases were identified through self-reporting or referrals from police stations, rather than through the education office's own efforts. Kim criticized the authorities, saying, "It is not about formal procedures and performance figures, such as how many prevention sessions were held," and proposed four areas for improvement.

First, Kim called on the Gwangju and Jeonnam offices to establish an "integrated network system" for sharing information and coordinating their responses with school health teachers, Wee Centers, and local government integrated support centers.

He particularly emphasized coordination with pharmacies, the first point of access for purchasing drugs. "The education office must not stop at simply sending out official letters requesting cooperation," Kim said. "It needs to work actively with local pharmacists' associations to find practical ways to act as a 'breakwater' and prevent teenagers from buying large quantities of dangerous medicines."

He also warned of the risks of accessing drugs online, adding, "We need a system that enables parents at home to be the first to notice changes in their children and allows them to receive help through the education office's system."

He further criticized the practice of simply directing students who need addiction treatment to an institution and then ending follow-up, calling for a "comprehensive aftercare process" that verifies whether treatment actually took place and follows students through recovery.

Gu Yonghyeok, head of the Jeonnam Physical Education and Health Division, and Kim Jonghwa, head of the Gwangju Physical Education and Health Division, responded, "As you pointed out, the two education offices will work together to build a system covering the entire process, from diagnosing students at risk to providing treatment." They added, "We will develop and report on a comprehensive plan that goes beyond education to include efforts to foster a supportive social climate."

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