VI. Raising the Consciousness of the Entire People Against Drugs
The key to drug control work lies in arousing the
consciousness of the general public. China regards it as a fundamental and strategic task
to raise the consciousness of the whole nation concerning the fight against drugs, and
carries out extensive and deep-going drug prevention education among all the people.
Governments at all levels attach great importance to publicizing the dangers of drugs, and
formulate plans every year to carry out drug prevention education to persuade the public
to turn their backs on drugs. Local drug control departments often carry out education,
publicity and consultation activities concerning the dangers of narcotics and the
anti-drug laws, using the news media -- newspapers, radio and television programs, and by
other methods appealing to the general public, closely cooperating with the departments of
publicity, culture, radio, film and television, and press and publications. The NNCC
Office and its local branches have also opened special telephone lines providing advice
and information on drug-related issues. Yunnan and some other provinces and cities have
started periodicals and opened web pages on the Internet in this regard. Every year on
June 3, the commemoration date of Lin Zexu's burning of opium stocks in Humen beach,
Guangdong Province in 1839, and on June 26, the International Day Against Illicit Drug
Trafficking and Abuse, local governments organize large-scale activities to publicize the
dangers of narcotics. As drug taking is a major channel for the spread of AIDS, during the
period of the World AIDS Day on December 1 every year, public health departments organize
publicity activities, with the theme "refuse drugs, and prevent AIDS."
From May to July, 1998, the Chinese government held a two-month national exhibition on
drug control. A total of 1.66 million people from all walks of life, including Chinese
state leaders and young students, visited it. The exhibition provoked strong
repercussions, and exerted a far-reaching influence. The NNCC also turned the contents of
the exhibition into a Wall Map of the National Exhibition on Drug Control for distribution
throughout the country. It also organized half-year itinerant exhibitions throughout
China, at which a total of over 166 million people received education directly. The
success of the national exhibition on narcotics control brought China's publicity level in
this regard to a new stage, and played an active role in raising the consciousness of the
entire people about the drug problem, giving a boost to drug control work in an all-round
way.
The Chinese government attaches special importance to drug prevention education for
youngsters. Special provisions aimed at protecting young people from drugs are included in
the Law of the PRC on the Protection of Minors issued at the 21st meeting of the Standing
Committee of the Seventh NPC in 1991, and the Law of the PRC on the Prevention of Juvenile
Delinquency issued at the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth NPC in 1999.
In pursuance of the guideline of paying special attention to education on narcotics
control and prevention among youngsters, governments at all levels take the education of
primary and middle school students as a basic part of narcotics control work. In 1997, the
State Education Commission (SEC) and the NNCC issued a notice stipulating that drug
control education as an integral part of education to improve people's cultural quality
should become formally part of the program of ethical education in primary and middle
schools, and that anti-drug education should be carried out in diverse forms and with
definite aims in view in colleges and universities and primary and middle schools. The
NNCC and SEC have jointly compiled a series of anti-drug education pamphlets for students.
The CYL has also developed a variety of colorful activities to publicize the dangers of
narcotics among young people, and mobilize them to fight against drugs. Many provinces and
autonomous regions have unfolded the drug prevention education activities mainly for
youngsters. In 1999, according to the requirements of the NNCC, drug control departments
at the county level and above established communication centers of drug prevention
education in 24,223 primary and middle schools to directly guide the work in schools.
In recent years, integrated with the efforts to develop "drug- free
communities," drug control publicity activities have been gradually extended to
communities to cover every nook and corner of society. Governments at all levels give
every encouragement to sub-district offices, towns and townships, residents and villagers
committees in their drug control work by strengthening the construction of organizations
of political power at the grassroots level and self-governing mass organizations, and
actively carry out basic work on narcotics prevention education, integrating this with the
efforts to develop "civilized communities." In the meantime, trade unions, the
CYL organizations and the women's federations at all levels carry out anti-drug education
among workers and staff members, anti-drug publicity organized by young volunteers, and
the activity known as "preventing drugs entering families." Local patriotic
religious organizations actively mobilize religious believers and personages of religious
circle to fight against drugs, carrying on their good tradition of shunning evil and
promoting good. The associations of self-employed laborers and private enterprise
operators at various levels have conscientiously carried out the recommendations in the
Notice on Extensively Carrying Out Drug Prevention Education Among Self- employed Laborers
and Private Enterprise Operators in China issued by the China Self-employed Laborers'
Association, and strengthened drug prevention education among the 80 million employees of
private enterprises. In recent years, the NNCC has sent various anti-drug publicity
materials to compulsory rehabilitation centers, houses of detention, public security
houses of detention, reformatories, reeducation-through-labor centers, prisons and work-
study schools for juvenile delinquents throughout China to reinforce drug prevention
education among the people who are most likely to fall victims to narcotics.
To make drug prevention education a systematic and regular practice, the NNCC has made
overall arrangements to carry out the "five-one project" of anti-drug education
nationwide from 1999 to 2001: Every province, autonomous region and municipality should
establish a drug control education base; every primary and middle school, college and
university should carry out an anti-drug education activity each year; and every district
should organize a batch of research achievements on anti-drug publicity and theory,
produce a number of literary and artistic works, and train a contingent of young
volunteers in this regard. The state gives full support to Beijing, Guiyang in Guizhou
Province, Dongguan in Guangdong Province and some other cities in their efforts to build
permanent drug control education bases. In the meantime, China has published the Yearly
Report on Drug Control in China since 1998.
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