Submitted by Livia Edegger on
In 2005 China’s National Narcotics Control Commission reported that 7% of new registered drug users used synthetic drugs. By 2013, that number had jumped to 40%. Increased use of the internet has played a pivotal role in the spread of meth, ketamine, and crystal meth use in China as well as globally. Underground labs in China produce huge volumes of synthetic drugs and other chemicals used in banned substances for the local market and also for export. This level of production has led to experts calling China the new front in the global war on drugs. The hundreds of laboratories concentrated in China’s port cities execute orders for “legal highs” from dealers around the globe with most originating in America and Europe.
Links:
- Chemical highs - The Economist