The National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) said last month
that central government plans to raise funding for drug
rehabilitation centers over the next three years to increase
capacity.
Drug users attend compulsory drug rehabilitation in centers
managed by police departments, and can be kept in them for one or
two years.
There were 791,000 registered drug users at the end of 2004, up
6.8 percent on the previous year, but there are only about 140,000
places in rehab centers and no special arrangements for people with
HIV.
In addition, drug-related crimes make up a large proportion of
the country's total, especially street robberies. In Wuzhou City of
Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, more than half of
street crimes were reportedly conducted by drug users, according to
the Public Security Ministry.
"Existing rehabilitation centers cannot meet actual demand,"
said Li Yuanzheng, deputy director of the NNCC office.
Central government has allocated 100 million yuan (US$12.1
million) to expand rehab centers until 2008, and local governments
have planned to source millions of yuan for the same purpose.
In south China's Yunnan
Province, the heroin trade is fueled by imports from the
neighboring "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar, Laos and northern
Thailand. The Kunming Drug Rehab Center, the largest of its kind in
the country, has 4,500 beds, but accommodates 5,300. With extra
financial support from the provincial government, some 7,000 new
beds will be added, 2,000 of them specifically for people with
HIV.
Dali City Drug Rehab Center in Yunnan will also increase its
capacity from 1,024 to 2,524 by the end of this year, according to
the provincial narcotics control commission.
Similar expansion projects are underway in many provinces where
services also face increasing strains.
"We expect the situation to improve remarkably in the next three
years," NNCC sources said.
The government launched a "people's war" against drug use and
trafficking this year in a bid to check sources of drugs, curb drug
crimes and reduce use.
In 2004, there were 273,000 registered drug users in compulsory
drug rehabilitation and about 88,000 former drug users had stopped
using for more than three years.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2005)