Synthetic drugs pose new challenge

Various types of precursor chemicals, used as raw materials to make the growingly popular synthetic drugs, present a new challenge to the anti-drug campaign, according to a senior police officer from Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The province, where the drugs seized usually account for 70 percent of the total in China, impounded a record 14 tons of drugs last year, up 45 percent from 2010, Meng Sutie, director of the provincial public security bureau, said in an interview last week.

Eight of the 14 tons were synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine and ecstasy. The rest were traditional drugs such as heroin and opium.

By comparison, authorities seized more than 4 tons of synthetic drugs in 2010, and in previous years only a few hundred kilograms annually.

"Synthetic drugs are breaking in with tremendous force," Meng said. The synthetic drugs seized in Yunnan come from Myanmar, he added.

The province shares a 4,061-kilometer border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, which together with Thailand make up the "Golden Triangle" of poppy cultivation.

Traffickers transported less opiates such as heroin and opium into Yunnan because of multinational crackdowns on poppy cultivation in recent years.

"Drug traffickers in Myanmar are turning to producing more synthetic drugs, which are easier to make for less money," he said.

Using various precursor chemicals, underground labs in Myanmar extract and produce synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine, which are mainly smuggled into China and Thailand, he said.

To halt the supply of chemicals to Myanmar, police increased their efforts last year against the smuggling of non-pharmaceutical precursor chemicals.

Yunnan province data provided to China Daily showed that 528 tons of non-pharmaceutical precursor chemicals were seized last year, compared with a total of 408 tons seized from 2008 through 2010.

But the task ahead is more difficult than expected, Meng said.

"The types of precursor chemicals that can be used for producing drugs are increasing fast and the underground labs in Myanmar have other sources than China for precursor chemicals."

Yunnan will increase its cooperation with Myanmar and Laos in sharing intelligence and cracking down on drug traffickers and underground labs this year, he said.

But efforts to reduce the domestic demand for synthetic drugs are also important, he added.

According to The Annual Report On Drug Control in China 2011, there were 1.55 million people on mainland taking drugs by the end of 2010. Synthetic drugs were increasingly popular with people younger than 25 as 432,000 of them were taking synthetic drugs.

According to reports, drug dealers now lure youths into trying synthetic drugs, making them believe that synthetic drugs are not addictive and will help them lose weight.

Li Na, director of psychological consultancy at Beijing Tiantanghe Detoxification and Rehabilitation Center, said many young were introduced to synthetic drugs by their friends, and they were more likely to try them when they were depressed, sick or at a party.

Youngsters needs more education about the damage synthetic drugs can do, she added.