China's Supreme People's Court warned yesterday of the challenges caused by "grave" drug crimes due to the worsening global situation, a day after the United Nations acknowledged a global rise in the production of synthetic amphetamine-type stimulants.

In an apparent move to demonstrate China's determination to get tough on drug crimes, five men and one woman were executed yesterday morning on charges of drug production, trafficking or selling, according to the court. The executions took place on the eve of today's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Chinese courts handled about 14,200 drug-related cases from the January-May period, a 12 percent rise over the same period last year, the Supreme People''s Court said.


Armed police stand by as a haul of confiscated opium poppy plants is burned yesterday in Wuhu, Anhui Province. The bonfire was lit to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls today. Photo: Liao Fu'an
In Beijing yesterday, police announced that methamphetamine, ecstasy, and ketamine dominate the drug cases that are investigated locally, as those drugs were found on about 310 of the 410 drug users arrested in May, according to Xie Yongzhi, deputy director of the anti-drug force of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Compared with traditional drugs such as heroin, the "newer drugs" cause considerable psychological reliance, aside from just a physical addiction, Xie said, adding that the new drugs also victimize more young people.

"It's unreasonable and deceptive to say the addiction and damage by new types of drugs are weaker than traditional drugs," warned Wang Dawei of the Chinese People''s Public Security University.

Taking new types of drugs can harm the nerve center and heart, even changing the biological structure of the brain, Wang said.
"The brain of an addict of new types of drugs will gradually shrink, with holes starting to appear on the surface," Wang said.


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