The Chinese government reported that there are around 2.7 million people who have records of drug abuse who are under surveillance. A government spokesperson noted however that there are around 13 million Chinese citizens who are believed to be addicted to and illegally buying and selling drugs. Korea’s Chosun Ilbo reported that around 500 tons of illegal drugs are consumed in China every year.
As recent as October this year, the Chinese administration reported that 9.14 tons of illegal drugs were confiscated by the Public Safety Department. These are items that were smuggled into Chinese borders in the month of October alone. The government estimates that it is around 60 percent higher than the monthly consumption rate of drugs the previous year. The number of drug abusers who were arrested and convicted were as high as 5,600, which is 50 percent higher than 2013.
Ryu Wei Jin from China’s Public Safety Department told the world that China has now entered an almost literal war against illegal drugs. Drug-related crimes have also been increasing rapidly. There have been more frequent cases where drug-addicted drivers would cause automobile accidents taking lives, and even some drug takers break into public facilities like schools brandishing lethal weapons.
Why is it that China is suddenly thrown into this war with illegal drugs even though none of these specimens can be cultivated anywhere in Chinese territory? Experts point out that China is surrounded by many nations that are known to be major producers of drugs. For instance, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (“Golden Crescent”) is recently rising as a major cultivator of poppy seeds. Growing poppy seeds is illegal in many countries around the world including Korea. Also, China is also right next to an area known as the “Golden Triangle” (Burma, Thailand, Laos) which produces around 60 percent of all the world’s heroin.
Ever since the Opium Wars with Great Britain and France in the 1840s, China has had very strict policies on illegal drug dealing and consumptions. When China legalized the consumption and import of opium from the British Empire, China began to fall from its position as the most powerful nation in Asia. Later, Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, declared that drugs are the “Enemy of the People” and has succeeded in decreasing the number of drug addicts in China.
Right now, drug dealing in China could lead to execution. The policy holds no exception for foreigners who sell and purchase illegal drugs in China. Only August last year, 3 Korean drug dealers were caught and sentenced to death.
