As teenage drug addiction and suicide attempts rise steeply, medical narcotics prescribed by hospitals are used as their channel to drugs, a lawmaker pointed out.

Rep. Suh Dong-yong of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea said so at the National Assembly Education Committee’s administrative inspection on Monday after analyzing teens’ drug addiction based on data submitted by National Health Insurance Service and the National Medical Center.

According to the National Medical Center, 7,182 adolescents aged 14-19 went to emergency rooms due to attempted suicide using drugs from 2019 to June 2022. They accounted for 46.4 percent of the total teenagers who visited ERs after an attempted suicide. The number rose steeply by 35.4 percent, from 1,736 in 2020 to 2,350 in 2021.

The number of teenage patients treated for addiction caused by drug misuse and abuse also increased significantly.

According to data submitted by NHIS, the number of teenage patients treated for drug misuse and abuse increased from 1,187 in 2020 to 1,678 in 2021, recording an increase of 41.4 percent. It also marked a growth of 28.3 percent compared to 2019 before Covid-19 hit the nation.

Unlike ordinary narcotics, medical narcotics used to treat depression, diet, and ADHD can be purchased by hospital prescriptions. In addition, teens can buy them in large quantities by getting prescriptions repeatedly at several hospitals. Therefore, experts have continuously stressed the need to strengthen narcotics management by linking the drug management system with the DUR (Drug Safety Use Service) system.

“About 1,500 poisoned teenagers on average a year were brought to emergency rooms after drug-induced suicide attempts,” Rep. Suh said. “Since DUR and the drug management system are not linked, they can visit several hospitals to purchase a large amount of drugs. As a result, drugs that teenagers can easily access are becoming suicide tools."