"But the use of narcotics and psychotropic substances in health facilities is still at a low level as it has not met the present clinical demand in China," he said.

"For instance, due to traditional and historical reasons, not a few Chinese doctors believe that morphine must be used sparingly with great caution, for fear of patients' addiction," said Han Jisheng, 81, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a renowned professor of neurological pharmacology at Peking University.

That idea has led to doses of morphine commonly being given to pain-stricken cancer patients in China that are less than 10 percent of the average dose in developed countries, he said.

"Doctors shouldn't hesitate to give reasonable doses of morphine to these patients because it has been proven theoretically and practically that few of such patients have developed addiction to the drug," he said.

Zhao also urged strengthening administration on the production, transportation, sale and use of special medicines.

Despite authorities' strict control, a number of people still use regulatory loopholes to illegally purchase precursor chemicals to process drugs for profit, he said.

Police have found and cracked down on illegal drugs processing sites in Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan and Shandong provinces in recent years, media reports have shown.

By last June, the number of registered drug users in China totaled 1.22 million, while the annual growth rate of drug users decreased to 5.6 percent from a peak of 30 percent in the 1990s.

About 47.8 percent of new drug addicts used new-type drugs, including methamphetamine, known as "ice", and ketamine, also known as "K powder". New-type drug users are mainly under the age of 35, according to the National Narcotics Control Commission.