CHINA STRUGGLES AGAINST RISING FLOOD OF DRUGS

In the early 19th century, it was the "black mud" that brought China out of
Celestial isolation and into the realm of geopolitics. The Opium Wars marked
the start of China's subjugation by Western (and later Eastern)
imperialists.

Opium brought China and many Chinese to their knees.

The almost total eradication of its use was one of communist China's
proudest achievements. But there has been a vengeful revival of illicit drug
use over the past 20 years.

This week, China admitted it was heading steadily towards having 1 million
registered drug users as it struggled against a rising flood of illegal
narcotics. How many unregistered users there are is anyone's guess.

Authorities claim to be making headway, but the number of registered users
rose by more than 40,000 over the first 11 months of last year. Of the
901,000 registered users, more than 750,000 are addicted to heroin.

The annual conference of the State Narcotics Control Commission in Beijing
this week heard that China redoubled its efforts to deal with drugs over the
past year.

Some 97,800 drug trafficking cases were handled by police, including the
arrests of 67,500 traffickers. The crime is a capital offence in China, with
offenders found in possession of more than 50 grams of heroin subject to the
death penalty.

Aside from 2.3 tonnes of opium seized by police, 4.6 tonnes of
methamphetamines, 1.87 million ecstasy tablets and 102 tonnes of chemicals
used in drug manufacturing were confiscated.

But the 12.3 tonnes of heroin are what will most alarm authorities - twice
the amount seized in 2000.

"The country is facing an increasingly tough task cracking down on drug
trafficking and abuse," the official People's Daily commented on Monday.
Linking the rise in drug use to rising economic damage and social
instability, the newspaper pointed to the threat posed to China from the
neighbouring Golden Triangle. Another problem that has concentrated
attention on drug abuse is the transmission of HIV among drug users.

Almost 80 per cent of drug users in China are under 35 years of age, the
Government says.

While the drug problem is worst in the southern part of the country, there
is reportedly an increasing problem in many big Chinese cities.