East Asia: Korean Actress Stirs Debate, Outrage By Calling for Marijuana Legalization
A prominent Korean actress has created an uproar in South Korea by advocating for marijuana legalization in a pre-recorded interview on a popular morning program on national TV. Kim Bu-seon had already made a name for herself as a pot legalization crusader in 2004 when, after being sentenced to a suspended jail sentence for possession, she filed a constitutional challenge to the country's marijuana laws.
Kim Bu-seon
Investigations into entertainers who smoke pot were an effort by the government to create a diversion, she said. "Whenever the government has troubles, it uses drug-taking entertainers to divert people's attention. It is the best way to make entertainers and artists obey the government."
Kim also argued that marijuana has medicinal uses. "Marijuana is not a narcotic; it is technically an Oriental herbal medicine which Koreans have used for 5,000 years," Kim said.
"If smoking it doesn't do harm to others, those who do need it, such as those suffering from depression or cancer patients, should be allowed to use it. Marijuana increases appetite and improves sleep," she continued. "Korea has the highest ratio of death by suicide among OECD members. The nation needs to take marijuana as a depression remedy and make depression patients come back to society."
Kim's remarks drew a strong response from TV viewers and Internet commenters, who attacked her views and the MBC public TV network for airing them. One blogger asked, "If marijuana is an Oriental medicine, is methamphetamine a Western medicine? [Editor's Note: The answer is yes, it is a Schedule II controlled substance.] It is not right to justify narcotics even though it is a minority opinion."
Another commenter wrote, "MBC, a public TV station, broadcast that marijuana could be helpful for society. It is obviously quite a low-quality show."
Numerous complainers have demanded that MBC issue an apology for airing the interview, but the program host said that while he disagreed with Kim's views, he would defend her right to articulate them.
People suspected of marijuana use in South Korea can be summarily drug tested by police and face significant jail sentences and/or deportation if they are foreigners. South Korean authorities and much of public opinion considers marijuana to be a hard drug.
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redditHooray For Kim Bu-seon!
Comment posted by asia guy on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 3:12pmThis is great news. Asia is a human rights disgrace when it comes to cannabis. This woman is in the vanguard and deserves support, she has unleashed cognitive dissidence into a very strict society that values conformity above everything else. This story indicates that South Korea is a ahead of Japan in progressive ideas about drugs.
SK should immediately drug
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 6:09pmSK should immediately drug test all of their politicians... Go Kim! And in America we have professional athletes who are caught using marijuana and say "it was an isolated incidence and I am truly sorry for my actions"... I bet! I say f*ck you hypocrites. Listen to your agents and be a pathetic cause for nothing except yourself...
Soto you scum bag.
Knows what she's talking about!
Comment posted by Phil Hanson on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 10:07pmActress Kim Bu-seon obviously knows more about what marijuana is and what it isn't than all the members of the S. Korean anti-marijuana crowd put together.
Sounds like South Korea...
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 11:30pmis still stuck in 1940s United States with regard to how far along they are with regards to public opinion on cannabis.
Unbelievable that just as many, if not more, people in Asia approve of the death penalty versus legalization. Maybe the Enola Gay bombed them back a few centuries, I don't know.
JUst remember not all Asian countries have pathetic cannabis
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 10:09pmLaws , look at India and Nepal, where it was made illegal in 1974 by the USA govmnt by paying the king 40 million dollars. To this day cannabis use is tolerated and in fact celebrated during HOLI and SHIVARATRI..... but the ORIENT is a whole different ball game.
Koreans grow hemp and smoke marijuana
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 8:02amIn Korean society, traditionally, when someone dies, the family members wear a special ceremonial outfit made specifically from HEMP. This hemp is grown in the southern part of the peninsula in the farmlands.
Come on, you can't say that all these farmers are growing loads of hemp and not taking advantage of the amount of marijuana their crops are also producing? Of course they are, they are selling their hemp to the weavers and they are selling their weed to the gangsters who bring it into the cities, but the government of SK is more apt to criticize NK for doing pretty much the same thing when they can't even look into their own society. That's just Korea for you.
So I talked to some Korean men about this whole issue and they were all like "yeah, marijuana smokers smoke leaves, leaves get you high, they are dangerous leaves." You can't help but feel sorry for their ignorance.
Brave woman
Comment posted by TrebleBass on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 12:42pmBrave woman