Wednesday marks the 32nd International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and the past year has been inspirational for China's law enforcers in combating drug-related crimes.

The number of existing drug users in China has gone down for the first time due to persistent crackdowns, according to a report issued by the National Narcotics Control Commission (CNNCC) on June 18.

But drugs in the country are far from being eradicated.

With heroin and cocaine still thriving on the illicit market, relatively new synthetic drugs like meth (methamphetamine) have become popular in recent years. Drug-making activities have also shifted to the northwestern and northeastern area away from the traditional "Golden Triangle" region, creating new challenges for China's law enforcers.

China's progress in anti-narcotic activities

The report noted that there were an estimated 2.4 million drug users nationwide by the end of 2018, down 5.8 percent from the year before, marking the first time that the numbers have dropped. Adding to that, a total of 109,600 drug offenses were solved and 67.9 tons of drugs were confiscated last year.

"A significant work we are doing in these years is to carry out drug prevention education mainly for teenagers aged 10 to 25 years. It can be felt that we have indeed done many great things, which have considerably improved teenagers' ability to identify, prevent and reject drugs," Chen Shuaifeng, professor of drug control at the People's Public Security University of China, told CGTN.

Drug rehabilitation activities have been launched to educate and help drug users, which added to the declining trend.

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Chen also points out that the change in the statistical definition of drug users resulted in the slowdown in the growth rate of drug users. In recent years, only existing drug users have been registered in public security organs. That is to say, "Those who have not relapsed into drugs for three years, who have died and who have left the country have been excluded from the data set."

Emerging trends in drug situation in China

Another trend featured in the report is that the drug production activities in the northwestern and northeastern regions have risen sharply.

Chen explained that the previous drug-making activities were mainly concentrated in Guangdong, Sichuan and Fujian provinces. In recent years, activities to combat drug-making crimes were vigorously launched and targeted at these regions. As a result, the illicit production activities were effectively curbed in this region. However, illicit drug production facilities migrated to the northern parts of the country.

The CNNCC report also noted that 13.5 million drug users, or 56.1 percent of the total number, are addicted to meth, making the drug the most commonly used in the country having surpassed heroin for the first time.

A new breed of young people is turning to meth, which is a powerful and intense synthetic stimulant that is used to reach a quick and intense euphoric reaction.

Additionally, the production factor also contributed to the popularity of meth. "The source of heroin mainly comes from abroad, but most of meth is domestically manufactured," which makes it easier to be acquired, Chen noted.

China's role in the global anti-narcotics battle

According to the 2019 World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Wednesday, synthetic opioid use is booming, deaths in the U.S. from overdoses is still rising and a "crisis" of tramadol use is emerging in parts of Africa.

In response to this ongoing global "opioids crisis," activists gathered in front of the United Nations headquarters to call on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his newly-formed "UN system coordination Task Team on the Implementation of the UN System Common Position on drug-related matters" to tackle the drug-related issues in a more proactive way.

In accordance with the global efforts, the Chinese government has been unshakably supporting anti-narcotics activities since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012. Under the CPC leadership, law enforcement entities and community-based systems have worked hand in hand and effectively reduced the expansion of drug-related issues in China.

According to Chen, the Chinese government has been actively mobilizing the people in reporting and supporting illicit drug-related activities. In the past few years, the anti-narcotic entities have also introduced advanced technology, providing more accurate and targeted support.

The legalization of marijuana in some parts of the world does however pose a great challenge to China's anti-narcotics efforts. However, on the international level, three major UN Drug Control conventions consider marijuana as a controlled drug.

Domestically speaking, marijuana is strictly controlled according to Chinese law. "Canada and the United States are the only two exceptions out of more than 200 countries around the globe who recognized marijuana for medical and recreational uses. We have to recognize that," Chen emphasized.