Progress and challenges in the fight against drugs

As China marked International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Tuesday by burning seized drugs and announcing the executions of some drug traffickers, there is no denying that despite the positive results of their crackdown, the authorities still face a serious challenge in the fight against drugs.

In its annual drug report released on Monday, the authorities say police seized 89.2 metric tons of drugs last year, an increase of nearly 9 percent from 2016, while the number of known drug users in the country rose by nearly 2 percent in 2017 to 2.55 million.

New challenges have emerged in the anti-narcotics drive, including the internet as a channel for selling drugs, gangs increasingly using the express delivery companies to transport drugs, and the emergence of new drugs - including those made of noncontrolled chemicals - which can be hundreds of times more potent than traditional drugs.