Pubdate: Tue, 02 Mar 2004
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2004 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Tim Johnson

ADDICTS IN CHINA EXCEED 1 MILLION

DRUG ABUSE HURTING ECONOMY, REPORT SAYS

BEIJING - China said yesterday it is wrestling with deepening problems of
domestic narcotics abuse and now has more than 1 million drug addicts.

Officials blamed soaring opium production in Afghanistan and the arrival of
multinational drug gangs in China for some of the surge in drug use.

"The domestic consumption of narcotics is growing, and the kinds of drugs
that are consumed have diversified," said Luo Feng, vice minister of Public
Security, the nation's second-ranking counter-drug official.

Luo said expanding problems with narcotics abuse impose "heavy losses" to
China's economy amounting to billions of dollars a year and that crime rates
climb with drug usage.

In an annual report, China's National Narcotics Control Commission said the
number of drug addicts rose from 900,000 in 2002 to 1.05 million in 2003,
including 740,000 heroin users. Use of narcotics and synthetic drugs
continued to increase, especially among youths, the report said.

The U.S. State Department, in a report on international narcotics control
issued yesterday, said a "rave" culture has developed in major Chinese
cities in recent years, with young Chinese using the drug Ecstasy and
amphetamine-type stimulants in nightclubs.

Chinese authorities have put the clubs under tighter scrutiny, "but results
have been limited," the report said.

Drug use in China, practically wiped out after the Communist Party took
power in 1949, made a comeback as the country opened up its economy.
Security agents combat the problem by killing dozens of suspected
traffickers each year in mass executions.

However, China shares borders with some of the world's major heroin- and
opium-producing spots, including the Golden Triangle (encompassing remote
areas of Burma, Thailand, Laos and China) and the Golden Crescent (which
includes Iran, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia).
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