Prescription for psychoactive drugs help offenders evade arrest, police say

Carrying prescriptions for psychoactive medication has become a phenomenon among drug offenders in Korea, as they can be used to evade police arrest even after testing positive for illicit drugs on a rapid test, police officers say.

A Korean police emblem is pictured as shown. [YONHAP]

Carrying prescriptions for psychoactive medication has become a phenomenon among drug offenders in Korea, as they can be used to evade police arrest even after testing positive for illicit drugs on a rapid test, police officers say.

These offenders exploit the legal loophole that the police have no choice but to release them if they present such medical documents even when their rapid tests return positive results.

In April, a man in his 30s tested positive for meth on a rapid drug test the police performed on the man.

However, the police had to let him go after he presented a prescription for phentermine, a psychoactive weight-loss medication that is similar to methamphetamine structurally.

"Recently, the number of people carrying a prescription for psychotropic drugs has surged," a police officer involved in the case said. "We have to release drug users if they show us prescriptions since on-site rapid tests cannot identify the exact substance taken."

Unlike detailed drug tests, rapid tests do not show the kind of drug the users have taken or when and how much, meaning there's limited information the law enforcement can obtain to execute an arrest or other investigative proceedings that require warrants, such as search and seizure.

Therefore, the police can only cite the discovery of drug paraphernalia or drugs or catching an alleged user at the moment of their infraction as probable cause for an arrest without a warrant.

However, the alleged user was eventually arrested and indicted without detention in July after the National Forensic Service's detailed drug screen returned positive results for meth.

However, these tests take up to three weeks to be completed.

The officer said this is a rare instance of an alleged user being arrested following a formal drug test.

"Once they are released, it is not easy to track them down [even after] a detailed test confirms their use of drugs."

Shin Woo-jun, who ran over a woman with his Rolls-Royce while driving under the influence of a psychoactive drug, leaves the Gangnam Police Precinct to get on a police van on Aug. 18 as his case was referred to the prosecution the same day. [NEWS1]

In August, the police faced public backlash when they released a 28-year-old driver of Rolls-Royce, Shin Woo-jun, who ran over a woman in her 20s in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam District in Southern Seoul.

Shin tested positive for drugs on site but was released 17 hours later after he claimed a dermatologist prescribed the drug.

The release became controversial as Shin not only inflicted severe injury to the woman but also had previous records of illegal drug use.

"To avoid [being detected in] drug tests, illicit drugs are made with substances that are indistinguishable from the prescription medication, Yoon Heung-hee, professor of drug and alcohol studies at Hansung University, said.

Yoon added that investigating drug offenses is considered "one of the hardest" as law enforcement has to file for a warrant for each alleged user, and rapid tests can't be used to arrest them.

A police officer well-versed in drug-related cases noted that "there are strong possibilities of prescriptions being misused" as psychotropic drugs have become widely available.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the number of people prescribed a psychoactive medication at least once amounted to 19.5 million, marking the highest ever since the ministry started tallying the number in 2018.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]