[ad_1]
SEOUL, South Korea – Cannabis use for recreational purposes may now be legal in Canada, but visiting South Koreans who are tempted to smoke the risk of punishment at home, warned their government on Tuesday .
"Even if South Koreans are in an area where marijuana is legal, it will be illegal to consume it," said the South Korean Embassy in Canada. m said on Twitter. "Please take care not to commit an illegal act and to be punished."
South Koreans have known for decades that they can be sued at home for drug use abroad, even in countries where consumption is legal.
Under the country's narcotics law, cultivating, possessing, transporting or using marijuana is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $ 50 million. won, about $ 44,000.
South Koreans are subject to the penal code of their country, wherever they are in the world.
Prosecutors frequently accuse returning citizens who are experimenting with cannabis, as well as those who frequent casinos abroad. Gambling, like smoking marijuana, is illegal in South Korea.
In general, the authorities do not randomly test citizens returning home, but they closely monitor people who have previously been victims of marijuana. They also catch the chance of people boasting on the Internet to use marijuana.
Pop singers and TV celebrities caught smoking marijuana are often portrayed in front of the media and may be banned from performing.
Last week, Canada became the second country to legalize marijuana for recreation after Uruguay.
According to government data, there are approximately 23,000 South Korean students in Canada. In May, 293,000 South Koreans traveled there.
South Korea has been a strong advocate for anti-drug regulation. Police reported 8,887 narcotics cases last year, up from 5,699 in 2014. It hired 1,044 people on charges of marijuana, a 49% increase over 2014. .
Marijuana smoke arrived in South Korea with US troops coming for the first time during the Korean War and with South Korean soldiers returning from the Vietnam War, historians said. Cannabis was officially banned by Park Chung-hee, a military dictator, in the 1970s.
[ad_2]Source link
