More than 2000 students attended the launch of an anti-drug campaign in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, yesterday.

Organized as part of the International Day on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and with the theme "drugs are not child's play," the campaign is designed to teach youngsters how to resist the temptation of drugs.

Students signed their names on a long scroll, vowing not to try drugs.

About 20,000 primary and middle schools in the province will also hold activities to inform students about the danger of drugs, said the campaign's initiator, the Hubei Provincial Narcotics Control Commission.

Meanwhile in northeast China's Jilin Province, about 30,000 books and 3,000 picture pamphlets on drug abuse were distributed to students.

The provincial government urged primary and middle schools in Jilin to run special courses informing students on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.

Also yesterday in Haikou, in south China's Hainan Province, about 2,200 students witnessed the destruction of 45 kilograms of drugs seized from traffickers.

Young people are vulnerable to drugs, because they usually lack knowledge of the harm drugs can do, said Yang Fengrui, director of the narcotics control bureau under the Ministry of Public Security.

And in addition to heroin, new types drugs such as "ice," or methamphetamine, and ketamine are also growing in popularity among the young, he warned.

Karaoke bars, discos and gaming lounges, are becoming places where young people can get their hands on drugs, he said.

Also marking the day, police departments in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, yesterday said they would co-operate further with Hong Kong police in fighting drug smuggling.

Drug bosses in 35 percent of the drug cases unearthed in Shenzhen last year were from Hong Kong, according to local police. And local customs officers have also uncovered 54 drug smuggling cases since June 26, capturing 69 smugglers, of whom 40 were Hong Kong residents.

On June 11 police raided an apartment and captured three Hong Kong residents who were making methamphetamine. The gang leader was seized later.

Police found 34 kilograms of finished methamphetamine, as well as about 2 kilograms of half-finished products and 3 kilograms of raw materials in the apartment.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court yesterday officially announced the arrest of the gang, along with five others suspected of making and trading drugs.

Another nine people, aged 20 to 35, have received sentences ranging from three years in jail to death for drug crimes.

(China Daily June 27, 2006)