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China launches 'people's war' on drugs
Treatment, executions designed to combat addiction
From Correspondent Terry Ozanich
May 27, 1997
Web posted at: 11:37 a.m. EDT (1537 GMT)BEIJING (CNN) -- China's economic boom of the past decade has brought with it an unintended consequence -- a rise in drug abuse.
Estimates are that nearly half a million people under the age of 35 are hooked on hard drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines. In response, officials have launched a "people's war against drugs," which includes execution of drug dealers and mandatory, rigorous treatment for addicts.
Chinese officials say they are determined not to allow a repeat of the widespread opium addiction that afflicted Chinese society prior to the Communists coming to power in 1949.
"Today, in our socialist country under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, we would never allow drugs to spread unchecked," says Ruan Zengyi of the Beijing Anti-Drug Committee.
New drugs joining scene with heroin
Heroin is China's biggest drug problem, due largely to the country's proximity to the Golden Triangle, the area where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet. The opium fields of the region provide one of the world's largest heroin sources.
More recently, though, methamphetamines and the so-called designer drug Ecstasy -- known here as "head-rocking pills" -- have become more popular, particularly among young people in China's cities.
At the forefront of China's war on drugs is state-run television, which routinely broadcasts footage of police drug crackdowns.
Program combines discipline, indoctrination
At the Beijing Compulsory Drug Rehabilitation Center, patients are subjected to a regimen that combines the medical care of a hospital with the discipline of a prison.
They are dressed identically in blue-and-white striped uniforms. The rehabilitation period lasts from three to six months, during which time exercise and a close monitoring of patients are all part of the daily routine.
The first two weeks are the toughest, since that's how long is takes to overcome a physical dependency on heroin.
Patients also sit through countless lectures on drug laws and are inundated with anti-drug propaganda. On the wall in front of them hang, in red letters, the slogan "forced drug abstention in accordance with the law."
Treatment is also expensive, costing most people more than half a year's wages.
New drug crackdown similar to 1950s campaign
The use of mandatory treatment and execution of dealers to stem the drug tide has worked before in China. In the 1950s, in the early years of the Communist era, those policies all but eliminated drug use in China.
It remains to be seen how well that approach will work this time, in today's new, more open China.
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