The number of registered drug users in Zhejiang Province
increased by nearly a quarter to 84,000 last year, giving it the
fourth highest concentration in the nation, statistics show.
In response, drug control authorities said they will attack the
problem by educating people about the scourge of drugs and opening
new treatment centers for addicts.
"Nearly 20,000 new drug users were registered last year, up
about 23 percent on the year before," Dong Xiaowei, deputy director
of the provincial bureau of public security, said.
Zhejiang's drug problem is partly the result of its relatively
high percentage of migrant workers, Zhu Jiangang, a staff worker at
the provincial publicity department, said on Friday.
He said many drug dealers come from outside the province.
"Meanwhile, the government has been taking tough measures to
crack down on drug smuggling," he said.
Zhu said many of the drug addicts are teenagers, accounting for
70 to 80 percent.
"That means we have to pay more attention to educating young
people to make them more aware of the harm of taking drugs," he
said.
The province has been working to improve anti-drug
education.
Courses on the harm caused by drug use are part of the regular
school curriculum from grade 5 in primary schools until senior high
schools in the province.
However, Zhu said, education alone is not enough to help drug
addicts.
Tackling drug abuse requires coordinated efforts from the
government, families and communities.
Zhejiang is home to about 18 community clinics that use
methadone to treat drug addicts. Doctors, community workers and
volunteers also offer counseling there.
"Quitting drugs can be a long and torturous process," Zhu
said.
Statistics show that only 4.7 percent of registered drug addicts
in the province are receiving methadone treatment, a
drug-replacement therapy that is popular in the West and Hong
Kong.
"More should be done to educate drug addicts on the necessity of
receiving timely treatment," Zhu said.
In a bid to reach out to more drug addicts in the province, the
government plans to increase the number of methadone clinics to 30
in the next few years, he said.
"We hope that consistent treatment and education will help more
drug users find their way back to their families and communities,"
the official with the publicity department said.
(China Daily January 15, 2008)