A bill has been proposed to require medical institutions that handle psychotropic drugs to notify the licensing authority of their closure separately.

Its purpose is to prevent the illegal distribution of psychotropic drugs that may occur during the closure of medical institutions.

Rep. Choi Bo-yoon of the ruling People Power Party recently introduced the “Amendment to the Narcotics Control Act” with this content.

The amendment requires drug dealers who open a medical institution to file a separate closure report with the licensing authority when they decide to go out of business and mandates the submission of drug possession status and disposal plans when filing a closure report.

To manage the remaining psychotropic drugs systematically, when a drug dealer loses a license, the drug dealer is required to transfer the drugs to another drug dealer. However, if there is no other dealer to transfer the drugs, they must be promptly destroyed.

The current law only imposes reporting obligations on drug dealers or drug dealers authorized to handle drugs. Still, it does not stipulate reporting obligations for those who lose their qualifications as drug dealers due to business closure.

In addition, if a drug dealer loses its license, it is only allowed to transfer the drugs in its possession to another drug dealer, and there is no clear regulation on how to dispose of the drugs if there is no transferee.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, about 1.08 million narcotics remained from medical institutions and pharmacies that had closed as of 2023.

“It is necessary for medical institutions and other organizations to systematically manage the narcotics left after closing down, and if there is no one to take over the narcotics, it is necessary to dispose of them quickly while ensuring transparency in their disposal,” Rep. Choi said.