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Heroin epidemic hits China - BBC



Heroin epidemic hits China - BBC

        Chasing the dragon: Heroin is easy to obtain in border villages 

           China is battling a heroin epidemic despite routinely
           executing smugglers. 


                     After years of playing down the
                     problem, officials now estimate there
                     are 500,000 addicts across the
                     country. 

                     And some say the real figure could be
                     much higher. 

           The epidemic is particularly acute in Yunnan province
           which is bordered by the poppy growing countries of
           Laos, Burma and Thailand. 


                          Yunnan, in the deep south
                          west, is estimated to have
                          100,000 addicts. 

                          The province has eight
                          compulsory rehabilitation
                          camps run along military
                          lines. But the failure rate is
                          high. 

                          The drugs culture has
                          brought with it problems of
                          prostitution, crime and Aids. 

           Drug abuse has been regarded with a sense of shame
           since the British began profiting from the opium trade in
           the last century. 

           When the Communists came to power in China they
           took a hardline stance against narcotics, going so far as
           to execute addicts. 


                          But drugs continue to flood
                          across the border and the
                          number of addicts is rising. 

                          Yunnan's sniffer dog teams
                          cannot check every vehicle
                          entering China even on the
                          main smuggling route. 

                          Fang Nai Jian of Yunnan's
                          anti-drugs department
                          supports execution for
                          traffickers. 

           ''I think the death penalty is necessary to strike at the
           drugs problem,'' he said. 

           ''We have a history of imposing the death penalty in
           China and we should use it for drug traffickers.''