Yoo Ah-in coerced a non-user to smoke cannabis to conceal drug abuse, report says

Actor Yoo Ah-in answers questions from the press at the Seoul Central District Court on Sept. 21. [NEWS1]

Actor Yoo Ah-in is accused of coercing a YouTuber to smoke cannabis to hide his drug abuse and illegally obtaining prescription drugs using other people's IDs, including his father's.

According to the prosecution's indictment obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo, Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, smoked cannabis through a heat-not-burn device with acquaintances in Los Angeles, California, in January.

When a YouTuber, who was recording a vlog at the time, walked in and caught him smoking the illegal substance, Yoo reportedly encouraged the YouTuber to partake in smoking, saying that it was time that he learned how.

The actor urged the YouTuber to inhale deeply when he noticed that the YouTuber, who had no prior experience with cannabis, was merely making gestures rather than actually smoking it.

The two smoked cannabis together the following day.

The prosecution claims Yoo intentionally pushed the YouTuber to smoke weed, making him a co-conspirator to keep his own drug habits hidden from the public.

The actor also faces allegations of illegally obtaining prescription drugs from hospitals using other people's IDs, including his father's, 40 times between August 2021 and August last year.

Six individuals have been implicated in the scheme.

Yoon allegedly acquired prescriptions for various drugs, including sedatives like propofol, midazolam, ketamine, remimazolam and the sleep-inducing pill Stilnox, made of zolpidem.

Stilnox is typically prescribed for a maximum of four weeks due to its addictiveness.

Yoo obtained the prescription for the drugs 34 times under his father's name, claiming that he was only picking them up for his ailing father.

In five other instances, he had a friend pretending to be his sister, using the sister's ID to secure the prescriptions for the drugs.

The prosecution said it suspects Yoo of tampering with evidence by instructing family and friends involved to erase potentially incriminating content from their smartphones when news of his drug habits came to light.

Additionally, one of Yoo's friends, who is also facing drug-related charges, was suspected of threatening the YouTuber who had smoked cannabis with them in LA.

The friend, who was being investigated by the authorities in August last year, cautioned the YouTuber, who had confessed to smoking cannabis, to consider the consequences of revealing his actions.

"I hope you really think about how your life is going to become miserable once your face becomes known publicly," the friend reportedly said. "You should make a wise decision."

Yoo was indicted without detention on Oct. 19.

The actor's first trial is scheduled for Nov. 14.

BY LEE BYUNG-JUN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]