Korean A has been raising her voice with her husband every night due to her high school son’s drug problem. Unlike A, who wants to actively treat A’s drug addiction, her husband is trying to hide it because he is embarrassed.
Eventually, she admitted her son to a rehabilitation center in town, but her husband was not pleased with it until the end. One day, while she was in the rehabilitation center, A’s son came home after escaping from the center. A’s husband happened to be the only one at home. A’s husband gave his son money and told him to hurry up and go back to the rehabilitation center.
On the way back to the rehabilitation center, A’s son could not resist the temptation and bought drugs with the money his father gave him. A, who lost control for a moment, was eventually found dead from an overdose. As the problem of drug and drug abuse, including the spread of fentanyl, becomes increasingly serious, the number of Koreans dying from it is also increasing.
The number of Koreans dying from drugs has exceeded 100 for the second consecutive year since 2022 and has increased by more than 130% compared to six years ago. Experts emphasized that more active prevention and treatment efforts are needed, pointing out that Koreans, who are ignorant about drugs and value their unique appearance, often miss the active treatment period and suffer.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 102 Koreans died unintentionally, not by suicide, from drug and drug addiction or overdose across the United States in 2023. This is a 132% increase compared to 2018, six years ago, and has recorded more than 100 for two consecutive years since 2022, when there were 105.
The number of Korean American drug-related deaths increased from 44 in 2018 to 72 in 2019, 97 in 2020, 98 in 2021, and exceeded 100 in 2022. A total of 518 people died from drug addiction and overdose between 2018 and 2023. Pastor Han Young-ho of Nanum Mission, who has been running a Christian faith-based treatment and rehabilitation program for drug-abusing youth for 28 years, emphasized, “In the case of youth drug problems, immigrant parents often lack information about drugs and only realize the severity of the problem after their children have become addicted.” He emphasized, “Now is the time to move beyond prevention and quickly move toward treatment and rehabilitation.”
Pastor Han also pointed out the Korean American culture of respect. “It is important to actively deal with drug problems rather than hide them,” he added. “Many people come to me only when they have reached a point where they can no longer do anything because of their respect.”
Pastor Han continued, “Drug addiction is a difficult disease to cure,” but “it is a disease that can be cured,” and urged, “If you see signs that your child is using drugs, never hide it, but seek professional help to solve the problem early.”