“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” (Proverbs 23:35,NIV)
There is a global war that unites nations across the world—the “war on drugs.” Humanity has long experienced how destructive drugs can be to society. For this reason, narcotics such as cannabis and opium were made illegal, with only very limited exceptions for medical use. On this issue, the world has sought cooperation. Even the United Nations has established the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to regulate substances and prevent drug-related crimes. In 2022, 1,350 representatives from 129 member states, 16 intergovernmental organizations, and 80 NGOs gathered to discuss the implementation of international drug treaties and related policies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “narcotics” as substances that: (1) create a compulsive craving for use (dependence), (2) require ever-increasing amounts to achieve the same effect (tolerance), (3) cause severe physical symptoms if use is stopped (withdrawal), and (4) harm not only individuals but society as a whole.
The global population of drug users (ages 15–64 who used drugs within the past year) rose from 226 million in 2010 to 275 million in 2019 an increase of 22%. Cannabis is the most commonly abused drug, while opioids cause the greatest harm. In the United States alone, opioid abuse led to 50,000 deaths in 2019.
In Korea, the amount of drugs seized in 2021 reached a record 1,295 kilograms, more than triple the 320.9 kilograms seized the year before. Methamphetamine seizures jumped from 64 kg to 570 kg, and cocaine from 48 kg to 430 kg, both a ninefold increase. The number of drug offenders reached 16,153, marking the third consecutive year above 16,000. Particularly alarming is the surge of offenders under 19 years old: in 2020, 450 were caught, a 43.8% increase from the previous year (313). Experts attribute this rise to the ease with which teenagers encounter drug advertisements through social media and online portals.
Drugs bring ruin not only to those who use them but also to their families and society. This is why nations are waging war against drugs. Yet despite the dangers, some countries have moved toward legalization of recreational marijuana. Canada legalized not only medical but also recreational marijuana in 2018, while 15 U.S. states including California have legalized it as well. The Netherlands, Uruguay, South Africa, Georgia, and Thailand have also followed. But modern attempts to relieve despair through substances or addictive behaviors inevitably lead to dependence. Even so-called “light” drugs like marijuana create a pathway to stronger substances, as the pursuit of pleasure always seeks greater stimulation.
Pastor Sang-cheol Kim’s documentary Addiction reports that among Korean-American teenagers in the U.S., up to 90% have either tried marijuana at least once or are already addicted. Disturbingly, illegal marijuana products disguised as popular snacks for children have also emerged.
》Prayer Points
1. Let us pray that the true danger and evil of treating drugs lightly as mere recreation and even legalizing them will be fully exposed to the world. May governments establish laws that protect their people from the lure of drugs, and may those numbed by addiction be rescued by the power of the gospel, restored to life and freedom in Christ.
》Scripture Prayer
Isaiah 1:2–7, 18–20 (NIV)
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Ephesians 4:17–20 (NIV)
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Let us pray for people who, lacking spiritual understanding, have turned from the life of God and fallen into momentary pleasures. May they come before the Lord who says, “Come now, let us settle the matter. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” and experience the power of the gospel, dying and rising with Christ through the cross.
2. Let us pray that the countless criminal organizations manufacturing and selling drugs to satisfy their greed would be exposed and dismantled, never to produce drugs again. Let us pray that governments which legalize drugs and thereby abandon people to reckless indulgence would instead come to fear the Lord and devote all their efforts to eradicating drugs. Let us pray that the chains of evil linked to drugs would be broken in many nations, and that the addicted would be set free from the snares of Satan.
3. Let us pray that the Church would come to know the grieving heart of the Lord toward rebellious lives that have turned away from Him, the Master. Let us pray that the Church would embrace wounded souls—broken and scarred in every way—and bring them restoration through the gospel, leading them to God who is salvation and life.
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