Pubdate: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN) Copyright: 2000 Star Tribune Contact: 425 Portland Ave., Minneapolis MN 55488 Fax: 612-673-4359 Feedback: http://www.startribune.com/stonline/html/userguide/letform.html Website: http://www.startribune.com/ Forum: http://talk.startribune.com/cgi-bin/WebX.cgi Author: Chris Bodeen, Associated Press Writer CHINA OUTLINES ITS DRUG FIGHT BEIJING - In its first policy paper on China' s drug problems, the government said Monday that it had managed to crack more than 800, 000 drug cases in the 1990s but also saw a fourfold increase in addiction rates during that period. In the document, issued by the State Council -- China' s cabinet -- the government summed up its efforts to contain the return of the rampant addiction that plagued the country for a century before the communists came to power in 1949. China' s law enforcement bodies are " waging a fierce battle against all drug-related criminal activities, administering merciless punishment to those involved, " said the paper. However, citing rising numbers of drug addicts and drug-related criminal cases, it added this: " the situation is grim." Between 1991 and 1999, China cracked more than 800, 000 drug cases, confiscating almost 40 tons of heroin, as well as tons of opium, marijuana and methamphetamine, also known as " ice, " the paper said. It added that the 22 tons of drugs seized in 1999 marked a 33 percent rise over the previous year. During the 1990s -- a decade of rising incomes and loosened social controls -- the policy paper said the number of registered drug addicts rose from 148, 000 in 1991 to 681, 000 last year. Heroin was the drug of choice for 70 percent of addicts, 79 percent of who were under age 35, the report said. More recent figures have put the number of registered addicts as high as 800, 000, and a senior U.S. drug-control official has quoted Chinese estimates of 3 million to 12 million total drug users. After wiping out widespread opium addiction in the first years of communist rule, the government was slow to react to a resurgence in drug use following economic reforms in the 1980s. Only in the past few years has it started public awareness campaigns and appealed for international cooperation. China greeted the run-up to United Nations anti-drug day Monday by executing traffickers, at least 38 of them last week, and running reports in state media. Another 10 people were executed Monday, state-run China Central Television said. The television station ran a special report Monday on young people at urban discos using the amphetamine Ecstasy, known in China as the " head-rocking pill." Stylishly dressed women were shown shaking their heads violently to techno-music. The policy paper said China treats addicts within its system of 746 compulsory rehabilitation centers and 168 treatment and labor camps -- facilities for hard-core users. Private treatment centers are also being set up. Overall, relapse rates remain high, partly a factor of the poor employment prospects many former addicts face at a time of rapid economic reforms. China lies on a major transit route for the 110 tons of heroin produced in neighboring Myanmar every year. The policy paper blamed drugs smuggled from the " Golden Triangle" border region for the surge in addiction. It said China has virtually eradicated cultivation of plants such as opium poppies within its territory and aids Myanmar and Laos with crop-substitution and tourism promotion programs to discourage poppy growing. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek