On June 15 KST, the Seoul High Court gave a verdict in music producer Don Spike's illegal drug use appeal case.
Previously in September of last year, Don Spike was arrested on suspicions of purchasing approximately 45 million KRW (~ $35,000 USD) worth of the illegal drug philopon (methamphetamine), then administering it 14 times with other acquaintances. During his initial trial, the music producer was sentenced to 3-years in prison, deferred by a probationary period of 5-years, plus 120 hours of community service, 80 hours of rehabilitation, and a fine of approximately 40 million KRW (~ $31,000 USD).
However, soon after the initial sentence, the prosecution proceeded to file an appeal, strongly demanding a prison sentence of 5-years.
Now, the Seoul High Court has ultimately decided to appeal the Seoul District Court's initial ruling in the case. The High Court, reasoning that "illegal drug crimes are currently creating a severely negative influence in society," has thus overturned the initial probation sentence, instead announcing a sentence of 2-years in prison, 80 hours of rehabilitation, and a fine of 40 million KRW for Don Spike.
An arrest warrant will soon be issued for the music producer following the High Court's new ruling.
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Looks like South Korea is going to learn the hard way what it's like to declare War on Drugs, and penalise the users heavily. Perhaps the culture difference will make them more successful than zero tolerance ever did in the west - in all the fulminating against the 'lax' standards in the west, you do know that this is a policy that was in place for over 50 years don't you? With no effect whatever.
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All it did in the US and to a lesser extent the UK, was to put thousands of people in prison at great cost to the taxpayers, use up valuable police resources, and allow the rise of ever more vicious organised crime, the profits of the drug trade going into the hands of those who were prepared to do literally anything to preserve their profits. It has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, not only of users, who have no guarantee of what's actually in what they're taking, and obviously of suppliers who have to run the gauntlet of authorities, and other drug cartels, but also of people who have nothing to do with the drugs trade, caught up in the drugs wars between suppliers. Columbia, Mexico and other countries on the various drugs trades production and supply routes have descended into chaos and are extremely dangerous places in which to live.
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If SK puts everyone who has ever taken drugs, in prison, they're going to decimate their entertainment industry, and probably many others too, whilst costing the country millions of $$, to no avail. It's also hypocritical, because alcohol addiction, which is far more damaging, is not only tolerated, but encouraged.