China steps up to the plate in global fight against drugs

In a move to counter the sharp increases in the abuse and production of synthetic drugs, the Chinese government has added another 32 new psychoactive substances including 4-chlorophenyl to a national control list, bringing the total number of such substances under strict government control to 170, the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee said on Wednesday.

This reflects China's resolve to play its due part in the global fight against illegal drugs, as the expanded list now covers not only psychoactive substances that are under control internationally and widely abused in China, but also those that are produced in China but abused in other countries such as the United States.

The rapidly emerging psychoactive substances, which are produced in labs with chemicals, can be many times more potent than traditional illegal drugs such as heroin. Yet due to loopholes in the existing anti-drug laws, they can often be readily available for purchase because they are still to be classified as illegal drugs. Even when banned, manufacturers can change the formulas to keep them a step ahead of laws that ban the products based on their chemical composition.