A recent study by the North Korea Review reported that some northern provinces of North Korea are seeing a noted spike in crystal meth use, even calling the surge of recreational speed ingestion an "epidemic."

"Almost every adult in that area [of North Korea] has experienced using ice and not just once," a co-author of the study told the Wall Street Journal. "I estimate that at least 40 percent and 50 percent are seriously addicted to the drug."

Why did North Korea get into this drug problem, and how did a country with such tightly regulated markets enter the crystal game?

According to the Washington Post, it started in the 1990s, when Pyongyang opened its usually-sealed-up economy to attempt ending a famine that plagued most citizens of the country. North Korea struck up a black market deal with China that would bring food in to nourish the hungry. Since then, the black market trade with China has been so lucrative that closing it down seems like it wouldn't help either country.

Two key events took place following the opening of the black market: Pyongyang's health system almost completely folded, and North Koreans started making meth in huge labs run by the state.

Apparently, the government was shuttling meth into China and giving the cash back to the manufacturers in Pyongyang.

Inevitably, some of the state-made meth began trickling back into North Korea. Citizens of the country began using, and the North Korea Review's report even said that some civilians were making their own meth in home labs.

When the healthcare system collapsed, medicine became even more difficult to come by-prescription drugs are pretty rare in North Korea. But meth is not only widely available, it is also cheap, and considered a cure for a number of ailments.

The issue has ballooned into a serious problem, especially in areas like North Hamgyung-a town that has seen most of the issues associated with this upsurge in meth use.

But according to the Washington Post, since the health system in Pyongyang is so stunted, "North Korean addicts, whatever their numbers, are on their own."