BKK POST: Editorial: Drugs

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

March 13, 1998


                                     



                                Editorial

              Like its neighbours, China is grappling
              with spreading economic problems.
              Social difficulties are spreading, as in
              Thailand and other nations trying to
              cope with shrinking growth. But China
              also faces a serious problem with
              drugs, as runaway addiction grips
              young addicts, many of them children
              still in school.

              Drugs slow down China's future

              China has failed to escape the economic flu. The latest official
              figures say that four percent of its urban work force is jobless,
              some eight million workers. Other experts believe the figure is
              higher - probably 20 percent, or 30 million people. The latest
              Foreign Report, an official publication, said there are also 175
              million unemployed and underemployed peasants, many of them
              flocking to the cities to compete for a shrinking number of jobs.

              As in Thailand, officials in China expect the economic crisis to
              get worse before it gets better. And the receding economy is
              happening in the midst of economic reforms designed to improve
              quality and reduce quantity. Plans are under way to overhaul
              300,000 state enterprises, meaning further unemployment is
              certain. One half of these enterprises, which employ 110 million
              workers, are losing money and will either go bankrupt or be
              restructured to trim costs. The coal industry has already cut one
              million jobs, and 700,000 steel workers and 600,000 textile
              workers will soon share the same fate. More than one million rail
              workers will be redundant within two years.

              Discontent has begun to rumble. Increasingly, small groups
              across the country are taking to the streets to give voice to their
              complaints. Demonstrations are small, and do not yet pose any
              threat to government or Communist Party authority. There is
              always the example of the Tienanmen massacre to recall if things
              begin getting out of hand. Chinese officials should experience
              little difficulty containing the dissent.

              Beneath this surface activity, however, lies another threat to
              economic equilibrium. Troubles in China's huge economy have
              provided a fertile breeding ground for an insidious foe of social
              progress: the widening addiction to drugs by young Chinese.

              Bai Jingfu is China's vice minister of public security and deputy
              chairman of the National Narcotics Control Commission. He
              views drug abuse among the young as a national disaster. Mr Bai
              says drug trafficking began in post-Mao China some years ago,
              when gangs started moving drug shipments through China. Now,
              they have played on the weaknesses of young people to develop
              a national narcotics-consumption market.

              For certain, no Chinese statistics overstate drug abuse.
              Consider, then, that official sources state that Chinese youths and
              young women are the focal point of surging drug abuse within
              China. Young people account for 80 percent of the 530,000
              drug addicts registered with the public security organisation. The
              majority are in the 18-25 age bracket. 

              Vice Minister Bai says officials are fully aware of the grave
              physical and mental damage done to young people by the abuse
              of drugs. China has begun programmes in some areas to show
              the results of physiological dependence on narcotics. The
              projects stress to young people and their parents that drugs
              wreak havoc on the nerve, respiratory, blood and circulation
              systems of young users. Mr Bai also stresses the long-term injury
              to families, as well as society at large.

              For the past three years, China has made rehabilitation of drug
              users a major concern. The project, given the extent of the
              problem, is compared by many with the attempt to dam the
              Yangtse River. The nation has 700 drug rehabilitation centres,
              and treatment is mandatory. The China News claims that more
              than 180,000 addicts were cured in the centres last year. Those
              who relapse can expect up to four years in the harsh "Reform
              Through Labour" programme.

              China's reaction to the serious and rapidly growing problem of
              youth drug addiction is important to the nation's future. There is
              no doubt Beijing is committed to combatting narcotic trafficking,
              and to fighting drug addiction by young people. Whether it will
              be successful remains to be seen.




                                     




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Last Modified: Fri, Mar 13, 1998