By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
Last month, Korea Customs Service sent out a warning to Korean citizens in Canada to inform them that, even though cannabis would be legal on October 17, they would not be allowed to use it. South Korea claims extraterritorial jurisdiction, meaning that citizens must abide by their laws no matter where they are in the world.
But as legalization kicked off across Canada last week, the South Korean Embassy once again reminded its visiting citizens that their nation’s laws prohibit them from partaking.
“The law for the legalization of cannabis use for leisure will be in effect throughout Canada starting tomorrow,” wrote the South Korean Embassy in Canada in a tweet. “Even in the legalized area of cannabis, please note that if the citizens of Korea smoke (including purchase, possession and transportation), they will be penalized for the offense.”
If an individual is proven guilty, penalties for consuming cannabis can include fines of up to 50 million won ($44,000 US) or a prison sentence of up to five years, though courts may show leniency in cases where medical marijuana is involved.
But South Korea isn’t the only country mandating the behavior of its citizens abroad.
On October 4, the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver posted a message to its website stating that purchasing and consuming marijuana is prohibited for its citizens and that they could get into trouble if proven that they used it while visiting Canada.
“It boils down to whether it can be proven that someone had committed acts in question while abroad after that person returns to Japan,” said an official from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. “It’s probably difficult to go after a case unless it involves a situation in which the person has been caught abroad and deported to Japan.”
Japanese nationals face a possible five-year prison sentence if convicted for purchasing marijuana.
