With drug offenders surging, so-called "drug offender rehabilitation divisions" will be newly established in correctional facilities.
According to the Ministry of Justice on the 31st, drug offenders in correctional facilities rose about 137%, from 3,111 in 2020 to 7,384 this year.
The Ministry of Justice organized drug offender rehabilitation divisions at Gwangju Prison, Hwaseong Vocational Training Prison, Busan Prison, and Cheongju Women's Prison to intensively manage drug offenders in correctional facilities and to operate tailored rehabilitation programs to prevent drug-related reoffending.
The drug offender rehabilitation divisions will operate tailored rehabilitation programs by addiction level for drug offenders and handle treatment and rehabilitation, including execution of completion orders, professional counseling, and linkage to social reintegration after release.
To sustain rehabilitation effects such as maintaining abstinence, authorities plan to establish a one-stop system that intensively manages inmates in separate housing units until they are released. To that end, the drug offender rehabilitation divisions will be staffed by experts with relevant expertise, including psychology Ph.D.s, clinical psychologists, and addiction psychologists.
Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said, "Intensive treatment and rehabilitation for drug offenders within correctional facilities, which are completely isolated from society, will contribute not only to reducing social expense but also to ensuring public safety."