The domestic youth drug problem in Korea is entering a new phase. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report 2025 clearly states that “cannabis remains the most widely used drug” globally. However, experts consistently emphasize that the core of Korea’s youth drug problem is methamphetamine(Philopon). Although cannabis leads in usage prevalence, methamphetamine overwhelmingly surpasses it in addictiveness, physical harm, and fatality risk.
Methamphetamine causes abnormal explosions of monoamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. It releases all stored dopamine at once and simultaneously suppresses the brain’s dopaminereuptak system, creating levels of neural stimulation that cannot be reached naturally. After the brief sense of euphoria, severe neurotoxicity, brain damage, and neuronal destruction follow, drastically lowering the chances of recovery. Experts widely describe methamphetamine as a substance that is “extremely difficult to quit without professional assistance,” and international evidence underscores its dangers. Numerous reports from other countries have documented sudden deaths, vascular collapse, and cardiac failure associated with methamphetamine misuse. Notably, in Australia, the average age of methamphetamine‑related deaths between 2009 and 2015 was in the mid‑30s.
Access to methamphetamine has become increasingly easy for adolescents and young adults due to anonymous online platforms and decentralized digital markets, which weaken traditional safeguards and hinder enforcement, while developmental factors such as immature impulse control, high susceptibility to peer influence, and strong needs for social acceptance—combined with heightened vulnerability among youth exposed to violence—further elevate the risk of experimentation and misuse, reflected in recent trends showing that individuals in their twenties make up the largest share of drug‑related offenders.
Given these risk factors, it is crucial to understand how methamphetamine use progresses into addiction. Experts agree that substance addiction is not a simple habit problem but a severe dependency disorder characterized by loss of control → tolerance → withdrawal → relapse. Wilford’s five‑stage model of addiction explains the progression from curiosity (stage 1) to full withdrawal syndrome (stage 5), while the Brown Goldman–Inn model describes the cognitive distortions that lead users to deny their addiction until a point of despair or change. Both models are known to progress particularly rapidly in methamphetamine addiction.
Kim Min-ju(Editor-in-Chief)
Minjukim900@soongsil.ac.kr
