Number of young drug users rises in capital

Drug users in Beijing are getting younger, the capital's judges said on Friday.

Over the past decade, the number of drug users who stood trial at Beijing Haidian District People's Court has risen and many of them were college students, according to Wang Chong, deputy chief judge of the court's criminal tribunal.

"Most young convicts were curious about drugs and lots of them did not know what they were eating or drinking while out in bars in areas such as Sanlitun, a very popular bar street in the city," Wang said, identifying smokable methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, as the most popular drug found in the city's bars.

"If a drug user is over 18, he or she should be tried as an adult and their punishment will be in line with the Criminal Law," he added.

He Booming, a judge of the criminal tribunal at Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court, agreed that the number of young drug users was on the rise.

"Before 2012, our court did not have any cases involving young drug users in universities, but from 2014 to 2015, we dealt with 20 such cases involving 21 defendants, including nine from famous colleges across the capital," He said.

Seven of the cases involved drug trades done in university dormitories, cafeteria or on sports fields, the judge said, adding that most of the young defendants were born in the 1990s and had mainly used marijuana.

"These young students learned about drugs and where to buy them from social media, such as WeChat, the most popular instant messaging tool in China," He added.

"They found it hard to control themselves and did not realize the serious damage drugs can do, and we found that some of their friends or family also took drugs."

Wang said some drugs were even being sent via express delivery companies, despite repeated judicial suggestions to these companies and online platforms that a real name verification system should be implemented.

"However, if the companies have no idea what they are delivering, they will not face criminal penalties," Wang said.