South Korea Wants to Arrest its Citizens Who Use Cannabis in Canada
(The AEGIS Alliance) – Residents of South Korea who consumed or smoke cannabis while in Canada will be punished when they return home, South Korean authorities warned.
Canada, the North American nation is now the second country on Earth after Uruguay to legalize marijuana on the recreational level. The move by Canada has triggered a debate globally about decriminalizing cannabis.
However, South Koreans who live in Canada were informed earlier in the week to stay away from Marijuana.
“Weed smokers will be punished according to the Korean law, even if they did so in countries where smoking marijuana is legal. There won’t be an exception,” stated the head of anti-drugs division at Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial police agency, Yoon Se-jin.
South Koreans found guilty may face a prison sentence of up to five years.
Korean law enforcement also say they have plans to hold workshops in both Uruguay and Canada to make it clear about the risk of smoking or consuming cannabis while in the two countries, according to The Korea Times.
There are around 23,000 Koreans living in Canada who have student visas, according to data by the ministry of foreign affairs.
All of the laws in South Korea apply to its citizens, and it doesn’t matter where they are at in the world, those breaking the laws can in theory be prosecuted upon returning to the East Asian country.
By contrast, a former British police chief officer is calling on its government to look into legalization of cannabis.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has been calling for an urgent review of the evidence, and says the Home Office needs to reconsider its position on cannabis since Canadian’s legalized it.
“If I was home secretary, I would have an urgent commission of experts to look at the evidence about what’s happening about cannabis in North America,” Sir Bernard said to Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.
The Home Office insists that decriminalizing cannabis “wouldn’t eliminate” illicit trade or the harms of drug addiction.
Featured Image Credit: CC/Flickr/Cannabis Culture
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
