China has sent out teams of inspectors to check on school
anti-drug education, the state drug control authority said on
Thursday.
The National Narcotics Control Commission has dispatched teams
to the eastern province of Anhui and the southern province of
Guangdong to make sure local primary and middle schools are doing
all they can to prevent students from taking drugs.
Primary and middle schools throughout the country were ordered
to assess their anti-drug education activities, according to a
circular jointly released by the commission, the Ministry of
Education and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League
on Oct. 25.
Previously, the three authorities had provided 200 schools with
anti-drug educational materials.
An official with the Ministry of Public Security said some young
people are not aware of the harm of drugs, especially new
methamphetamine-based drugs such as "ice" and "ecstasy".
"Some young people even think it's fashionable to take drugs and
easy to quit," he said.
The number of drug takers in China grew 35 percent over a
five-year period to reach 1.16 million in early 2005, according to
police data.
Police estimates indicate China has more than 700,000 heroin
addicts, 69 percent of whom are under the age of 35.
The country's draft anti-drug law outlaws opium, heroin,
marijuana, methamphetamine, morphine, and cocaine.
It also asks local governments and anti-drug committees, village
and urban residents' committees, parents or supervisors of students
under 18 to play a bigger role in the country's anti-drug education
campaign.
(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)