Gov`t to Teach Elementary-Middle-High School Students `Drug Prevention`

More than two hours of `drug prevention` education is to be included in the elementary-middle-high school education program beginning in 2003 in order to warn the youth of abuse and misuse of drug and hallucinogen. `Treatment probation` system, which suspends the sentence under the condition of treatment care for the rehabilitation of habitual drug users, will be also introduced.

The government held a meeting on `evaluation of management and crackdown of drugs`, presided over by Prime Minister Lee Han-Dong yesterday, and decided to prepare a comprehensive countermeasure against drugs within this month, which deals with the distribution process and the treatment as well as rehabilitation, to strongly take measures against drug problems.

The government plans to revise related laws to establish `treatment probation` system, which suspends sentence of a simple drug user under the condition of treatment care.

Along with this, the government decided to establish the `Anti-Drug Information Center` (tentatively named) to build the cooperation among investigation and control divisions. The government also decided to carry out an unexpected total inspection on one plane out of 130 planes (average number of arriving planes per day) at the Incheon International Airport everyday, and to strengthen the inspection on export and import goods via mail at the airport and harbor. The government decided to temporarily include the drug and hallucinogen prevention education in the physical education, and to consider a plan that introduces a regular health education for the long term.

In order to accomplish this, the government decided to establish the `national committee on countermeasures against drugs` under the Prime Minister`s Office, in which related organizations, such as the National Intelligence Agency, the Supreme Prosecution, Police Agency, the Korea Customers Service, the Korea Food and Drug Administration, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, participate. The head of the Office for the Government Policy Coordination will be the chairperson of the committee.

klimt@donga.com