Drug users in Shanghai

The number of people, especially the young, addicted to synthetic drugs has risen sharply in recent years, Shanghai municipal public security bureau announced yesterday.

Official statistics showed more than 80 percent of new drug addicts in Shanghai in 2008 turned to synthetic drugs - including ice, ecstasy and ketamine. The use of those drugs grew by 25 percent year-on-year to reach 74 percent of total drugs seized.

The increase in synthetic drug use - which is especially popular among the young and among white-collar workers - is because users think they "represent fashion and style", said an official from the anti-drug department under the public security bureau.

"Although they are not as physically addictive as traditional drugs, such synthesized drugs are more psychologically addictive and carry negative impacts on people's nervous systems," he said.

The use of traditional drugs, such as heroin and morphine, on the other hand has decreased substantially due to a sustained police crackdown and improved education, he added.

With some 32,000 drug addicts in the city - 0.15 percent of Shanghai's population - the number of substance abusers has been growing by 20 percent a year, according to Zhou Weihang, director of Shanghai's anti-drug office.

Shanghai has also become a relay center for drug trafficking and more and more cross-border drug smuggling cases have been reported.

On April 30, local police confiscated 25.5 kg of synthetic drugs and arrested seven suspects involved in a cross-region drug cartel that involved Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.

Among the 623 cases Shanghai police cracked in the first five months of this year, 34 involved more than 1,000 g of drugs, Zhou said.

(China Daily June 24, 2009)