China announces crackdown on illegal drug trade in Beijing, other Olympic event host cities

Yang Fengrui, Deputy Secretary-General, National Narcotics Control Commission.

(CCTV06-27-2008 08:46)With the Olympics just around the corner, China is cracking down on the illegal drug trade in Beijing and other co-host cities.

Police will target drug use at nightclubs and other entertainment venues, as well as smugglers supplying major cities.

A top police official says the approach will be multi-faceted.

Yang Fengrui, Deputy Secretary-General, National Narcotics Control Commission, said, "We need to make more efforts to interdict the drug sources and block drugs from entering China. We'll try our best to crackdown drug-related cases, to seize more drugs and to curb the inflow of drugs from overseas, especially the inflow into Olympic cities. "

Olympic cities refers to Beijing, Tianjin and Qinghuangdao, the business hub of Shanghai, northeastern industrial center of Shenyang, and Qingdao, which will host the sailing events.

There will also be a publicity campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of drug use.

Hundreds of methadone clinics have been opened in China to help heroin addicts quit, and some cities have launched needle exchange programs. Needle exchanges help prevent the spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases through sharing syringes.