Progress seen in battle against drugs

Overall usage declining, but challenges remain as synthetics gain prominence

China's overall anti-drug situation is constantly improving, with the scale of supply, consumption and abuse continuously decreasing, and the high incidence of drug crimes has been effectively curbed, according to China's narcotics control and judicial authorities.

Due to strict epidemic prevention and control policies coupled with crackdowns, the number of drug-related crimes has reached its lowest level in nearly 10 years, according to the China Drug Situation Report 2022, which was issued by the Office of National Narcotics Control Commission days before the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26.

The report said that domestic drug manufacturing continues to shrink, and large-scale drug manufacturing activities have been stymied following a series of targeted operations and rectifications in key drug production regions.

Last year, police nationwide seized 656 kilograms of drugs that are produced domestically, down 12.4 percent year-on-year. Drug manufacturing activities were scattered in some provinces, located in remote areas and featuring segmented processing, it said.

Furthermore, the scale of drug abuse across the country has continued to decline thanks to extensive publicity and education.

By the end of last year, China had about 1.12 million drug users, down 24.3 percent year-on-year, and the number of drug users has declined for five consecutive years, it said.

According to the results seen from the monitoring of wastewater for drug components in cities, the overall consumption of heroin, methamphetamine and ketone, which are three common drugs with a large number of users, has dropped significantly, it said.

However, affected by a significant reduction in drug supply, the price of common domestic drugs remains high, resulting in drug users turning to other narcotics, new psychoactive substances and unregulated substances for abuse.

New synthetic drugs are constantly being repackaged under different names and are more difficult to detect.

The number of prosecuted people involved in the production and use of these drugs has grown rapidly, said Yuan Ming, head of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's second procuratorial office, during a news briefing on Sunday.

Young people are increasingly vulnerable to drug abuse, especially of new drugs, and participate in drug crimes on the grounds of seeking novelty and conformity, which is worthy of vigilance, he said.

"As the nation's drug-control efforts continue to intensify, lawbreakers sell and consume narcotics and psychotropic drugs as substitutes. Some medical practitioners break the law and commit crimes in the process of managing these drugs, resulting in such drugs flowing into the channels of drug production and trafficking," he said.

In one case published by the SPP, from February 2020 to June 2021, a man surnamed Yuan made bottles of liquid containing gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, also known as GHB — a "date rape drug" — at his home in Tengzhou, Shandong province. He sold about 45,700 bottles of the liquid and earned more than 1 million yuan ($139,000). He used the illegal gains to buy a house in Hunan province.

Police found that Yuan had worked in a chemical plant and had tried to acquire knowledge about the drug from colleagues before manufacturing it.

In September last year, he was fined and sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison for selling and manufacturing drugs and money laundering.

The SPP will issue more cases detailing punishments for those who commit crimes involving narcotics and psychotropic drugs and the improper control of such substances, said Yuan Ming, the SPP official.

Prosecutors will also inform the regulators of problems in dealing with these drugs to promote comprehensive governance, he said.