Pubdate: Thu, 22 Sep 2005
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Jonathan Watts
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)

WAR DECLARED ON DESIGNER DRUGS AS CHINESE MIDDLE CLASS GETS HIGH

A "people's war" on narcotics in China has turned into a campaign against 
designer drugs after police found a surge in usage of ecstasy, ketamine and 
methamphetamine, or ice, among urban professionals.

In a shift that may be down to a booming economy and the growing influence 
of globalised culture, Chinese authorities said this week the focus of 
their anti-drugs campaigns has widened from disadvantaged social groups - 
such as minorities, prostitutes and the unemployed - to affluent 
white-collar workers.

According to the domestic media, the public security ministry launched a 
campaign against "new drugs" - synthetic stimulants and hallucinogenic 
chemicals - which are popular in nightclubs and karaoke bars in the 
fast-growing cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing.

In November, the government will introduce new rules to crack down on the 
use of such narcotics, which are not clearly covered by existing laws. The 
new policy follows a sharp rise in seizures of laboratory-made drugs. 
According to the ministry spokesman, Wu Heping, police confiscated 370,000 
tablets of ecstasy in the first seven months of the year - a rise of 54% 
over the same period last year - and 2.2 tonnes of ice, up 9.5%.

Previous campaigns have focussed on traditional narcotics, such as heroin, 
in poor border provinces long linked with drug abuse, such as Yunnan - near 
the Golden Triangle with Burma and Thailand - and Xinjiang - close to the 
poppy fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although dealers face the death 
penalty if caught, police believe there has been a steady growth in the 
trade in recent years.

No reliable figures exist to assess the scale of the drug problem. Official 
statistics show there were 790,000 drug users registered last year, though 
the actual figure could be in the tens of millions.

In April, the Chinese state councillor and public security minister, Zhou 
Yongkang, declared a "people's war" against drugs, but the seizures of 
man-made amphetamines in cities has forced a rethink of such traditional 
measures.

Liu Yuejin, vice-director of the narcotic control bureau, said there had 
been a sharp rise in the use of man-made narcotics, which now accounts for 
9.5% of registered addicts. He told the China Daily that almost all of the 
500 guests at a recent wedding in Shanghai had been given a ketamine pill.

Officials have reportedly closed down 27 underground factories producing 
ice and ecstasy and raided numerous karaoke bars - which are often a front 
for prostitution and drug dealing.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom