Jin Jinsook Receives Excellence Award at 5th National Assembly Legislative Awards of Korea

Excellence Award for Legislative Activities on the Amendment to the Narcotics Control Act
"Realizing Politics That Contribute to People's Lives Through Field Communication"

Jin Jinsook, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker.

Jin Jinsook, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea representing Buk-gu-eul in Gwangju, received the Excellence Award in the legislative activities category (social and cultural sector) at the 5th National Assembly Legislative Awards of Korea on June 11. This award is directly evaluated and selected by the National Assembly.

This marks her fourth recognition for legislative activities, following last year's awards as an Outstanding Lawmaker in the National Assembly audit, selected by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, the Democratic Party of Korea, and the Law Consumers' Alliance NGO.

The amendment to the Narcotics Control Act, proposed by Jin, is a bill that connects external prescription software used by medical institutions with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's integrated narcotics management system. This allows doctors to check a patient's narcotics prescription history before prescribing.

Despite the growing social problems caused by narcotics abuse, up until now, doctors could only check patients' prescription histories for a single type of narcotic?fentanyl?at the prescribing stage. As a result, side effects such as "medical shopping," where patients visit multiple medical institutions to receive overlapping or excessive prescriptions for narcotics, have occurred.

Jin visited sites such as the National Center for Mental Health and held meetings with relevant ministries and organizations, including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, before proposing the bill in November last year. Through ongoing communication, she resolved key issues, and the amendment was finally passed at the plenary session in February this year.

The Legislative Awards Review Committee stated, "This is a realistic and timely bill addressing social issues, with a strong focus on field-oriented legislative efforts. The system of linking information networks enhances convenience and effectiveness for medical staff and serves as an effective system to prevent the indiscriminate spread of narcotics."

Jin expressed her thoughts, saying, "I am very pleased to receive the National Assembly Legislative Award in the legislative activities category, which was given to only 24 members of the 22nd National Assembly. The driving force behind my legislative work is in the field. I will continue to communicate with the field and create laws that make a practical contribution to people's lives."