Opium replaces meth as North Korea’s drug of choice

Opium is replacing methamphetamine as the drug of choice in North Korea as the pandemic has disrupted Chinese supplies of the raw materials needed to make meth, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

Until a couple years ago, meth – known inside the country by its street name, “ice” – was widespread in North Korea to the point that people were giving it to each other as gifts for Lunar New Year. 

It is used recreationally as well as for various medicinal purposes in a country where the healthcare system faces a severe lack of resources. It’s illegal, but government officials are known to turn a blind eye because the state cannot provide the people with adequate medicine, sources told RFA.

But meth has become harder to obtain after trade shut down with China due to COVID-19. That’s prompting farmers to grow and sell poppies – used to make opium – on the black market, a resident of South Hamgyong province told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Although legitimate trade with China has resumed, smuggling has not yet picked up to the point that steady meth supplies are coming in, a resident of the eastern province of South Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons..

Many farmers in that province’s Kowon county try to grow poppies, he said. “In the mountain village where I live, five out of ten households plant opium.”

Some poppy growers grow only enough for their personal use, but most grow it for sale. It’s illegal, but if cultivated in small quantities, the government looks the other way, he said.

“The amount of meth sold on the black market has been decreasing since last year,” he said. “It has become difficult to purchase it this year, which is also the background for the rapid increase in opium cultivation.” 

Cheaper than meth

Opium is also popular because it is cheaper than meth, a resident in the western province of South Pyongan said. 

A gram of meth can fetch 18,000 won (US$1.12) on the black market, whereas the same amount of opium liquid costs only 5,000 won (31 cents), she said.

Opium is said to heal a number of ailments and lift one’s mood,  the first resident said.

“Nowadays, the common rumor is that people who have been feeling resentful and suicidal feel better after taking an opium injection,” he said.

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The second resident said that opium is replacing meth as a treatment for headaches and diarrhea. RFA could not independently verify if either meth or opium are effective treatments for either condition.

“In Pyongan province, in July and August, you cut opium flower buds with a knife to obtain the liquid, which is then dried and sold,” she said, adding that the flower stems are also dried and sold.

“There are many farms that grow opium, so you can buy it at any time,” she said. It’s proving very profitable, to the point that people are growing opium flowers instead of edible crops like corn, the South Pyongan resident said.

“It was rare for farmers to plant opium in their gardens for sale, but with the coronavirus lockdown blocking businesses, some farmers have started growing opium to make a living,” she said. “More farmers have followed suit.”

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.