Narcotics Control Act Amendment Pre-announced on February 28
MFDS Designates Seven New Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances
The Ministry (ˈminəstrē) of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), led (lēd) by Commissioner (kəˈmiSH(ə)nər) Oh Yu-Kyoung, has announced a legislative (ˈlejəˌslādiv) amendment (əˈmen(d)mənt) to the Enforcement (inˈfôrsm(ə)nt) Decree (dəˈkrē) of the Narcotics (närˈkädik) Control (kənˈtrōl) Act, designating seven new substances (ˈsəbstəns), including (inˈklo͞od) Hexahydrocannabinol, as narcotic or psychotropic (ˌsīkəˈträpik) drugs.
The amendment was officially pre-announced on February 28, with public comments (ˈkäˌment) accepted (əkˈsept) until April (ˈāprəl) 10.
The newly (ˈno͞olē) designated substances include five substances (four narcotics and one psychotropic drug) set to be classified (ˈklasəˌfīd) under the 68th United (yo͞oˈnīdəd) Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), as well as two additional psychotropic substances, including Etomidate, which were classified following (ˈfälōiNG) a review (rəˈvyo͞o) by the Domestic (dəˈmestik) Narcotic Safety (sāftē) Management Advisory (ədˈvīzərē) Committee (kəˈmidē).
The substances designated by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs are novel (ˈnäv(ə)l) synthetic (sinˈTHedik) narcotics, modified (ˈmädəˌfī) versions (ˈvərZHən) of existing (iɡˈzist) drugs.
In response (rəˈspäns), the MFDS has already (ˌôlˈredē) classified and managed these (T͟Hēz) substances as temporary (ˈtempəˌrerē) narcotics by closely (ˈklōslē) monitoring (ˈmänədər) global (ˈɡlōb(ə)l) narcotics trends.
Notably (ˈnōdəblē), this amendment includes Etomidate, a general (ˈjen(ə)rəl) anesthesia (ˌanəsˈTHēZHə) inducer (inˈdo͞osər).
Reports (rəˈpôrt) indicate (ˈindəˌkāt) illegal (i(l)ˈlēɡ(ə)l) administration (ədˌminəˈstrāSH(ə)n) and misuse of Etomidate at certain (ˈsərtn) medical (ˈmedək(ə)l) institutions (ˌinstəˈto͞oSHən).
In light of these concerns (kənˈsərn), the MFDS has proactively (prōˈaktəvlē) designated it as a controlled (kənˈtrōld) narcotic drug to ensure (inˈSHo͝or) its safe use within South Korea.
The MFDS emphasized that this measure (ˈmeZHər) aligns (əˈlīn) with international (ˌin(t)ərˈnaSH(ə)nəl) narcotics control efforts (ˈefərt) while ((h)wīl) strengthening (ˈstreNG(k)TH(ə)n) domestic (dəˈmestik) regulations (ˌreɡ(y)əˈlāSH(ə)n) to prevent (prēˈvent) drug abuse.
Moving (mo͞ov) forward (fôrwərd), the agency (ˈājənsē) reaffirmed (ˌrēəˈfərm) its commitment to enhancing narcotic management policies (ˈpäləsē) to safeguard (ˈsāfˌɡärd) public health and safety.
Editor 메디마스터
Provided by: MFDS
