Chief judge: Courts should deal harshly with substance abusers

The courts were told to deal with drug offenders severely on Wednesday after the number of people sentenced in drug cases topped 100,000 in a year for the first time.

Gao Guijun, chief judge at the criminal department of the Supreme People's Court, said that every court in the country should give the death penalty to those who commit serious drug offenses.

Last year, the courts punished 109,692 drug offenders, 66,332 more than the 2007 figure, according to the latest statistics from the top court.