China records big rise in number of addicts taking synthetic drugs
Number of those abusing synthetic narcotics is growing 36pc each year, official figures show
The mainland has warned of a rapid rise in abusers of synthetic drugs, as official estimates put the country's total number of drug addicts at 14 million.
The number of registered abusers of synthetic drugs, which include methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy, was growing at an average of 36 per cent each year, the National Narcotics Control Commission said on Monday.
This was the first time the number - nearly 1.46 million at the end of last year - had exceeded that of registered abusers of heroin. In total, there were 2.95 million registered abusers of all types of drugs, including synthetic drugs and heroin, but the commission estimated the real figure - including those who were not registered -was over 14 million.
NNCC deputy chief Liu Yuejin said cross-border drug trafficking was also rising because of the increasing demand for drugs on the mainland. Drug production plants had also shifted from coastal areas to inland provinces, the Legal Daily quoted him as saying.
The rapid rise in the use of synthetic drugs is in line with an "unprecedented global expansion of the synthetic drugs market" reported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime last year.
Methamphetamines, ecstasy and other synthetic drugs were now the dominant drug type of choice globally, more widely used than opium and heroin, according to the 2014 Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment.