China Reports Success in Counternarcotics Efforts but Faces Challenges with New Drug Trends

According to a report released on Thursday, China's ongoing efforts in combating drug abuse have proven fruitful, as the nation reported a substantial reduction in illicit drug use. Last year, Chinese authorities successfully handled 37,000 criminal cases related to drugs, arresting 62,000 individuals and confiscating 26.7 metric tons of narcotics. The report highlighted a significant year-on-year drop in opioid abusers by 28 percent and a reduction of 23.3 percent in those addicted to methamphetamine.

Despite these achievements, the report pointed out a troubling shift towards the abuse of newer drugs. One notable substance is etomidate, an anesthetic that gained notoriety for its misuse in 2024. Among the individuals caught abusing narcotics and psychotropic substances last year, approximately 86 percent were under 35 years old, revealing a concerning trend among younger populations. Additionally, a rise in the consumption of unregulated drugs like nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as "laughing gas," was observed, with around 49,000 users identified, including 30,000 who specifically abused the gas.

As traditional drugs have become increasingly hard to acquire and expensive, unregulated substances have emerged as a substitute, according to Shan Yehua, deputy director of the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission. To counter this trend, the government is actively regulating new addictive substances and intensifying law enforcement efforts against their production and distribution. In 2024 alone, law enforcement cracked down on 566 cases related to laughing gas, leading to the arrest of 2,293 suspects and the seizure of 358,000 liters of the gas. In the first quarter of the current year, authorities addressed 87 such cases and apprehended an additional 301 suspects.

In an effort to combat the rise in substance abuse, an online campaign targeting awareness among the youth will commence from June through December, aiming to educate the public on narcotics and psychotropic substances. The report also noted that China has managed to effectively regulate fentanyl, with no significant instances of its abuse detected in wastewater analysis or in hair tests conducted on drug users last year.