Drug hotspot vows to clean up its act

Local residents planted these opium poppies, which were later confiscated by the public security authorities in Xichang.

'Drugs are a devil'

"It's wrong for people to think of drugs as some kind of cure. Drugs are a devil that nearly ruined my family," said Liu, a drug user who would only give her family name.

Liu, 34, and her husband Zhao, 36, once owned a restaurant in Xichang. The Liangshan natives lived a good life until they became involved with drugs. The habit cost them their apartment and savings, a total of about 1 million yuan ($154,000).

In 2010, Liu was pregnant and looking forward to a new chapter in their lives, when Zhao took his first hit of heroin.

"Our good life burst like a bubble," Liu said.

Zhao said he had been naive: "My friend talked me into trying some. It was not a big deal here, really. I thought I knew many people who took drugs and still led a good life then. But I was wrong."

Liu discovered that Zhao was a drug addict shortly after their son was born. She was devastated.

"I tried every possible way to stop him - hiding the drugs, threatening to divorce him, throwing away his mobile phone to stop him seeing bad friends - but everything failed. He made promises, and I could tell that he really meant them, but the next day, when the drugs controlled him again, he broke his promises again and again," Liu said.

"I was so devastated that a horrible idea popped into my mind. I thought I should try drugs too, so when I success-fully demonstrated that I could quit after becoming hooked, it would be a good lesson and encouragement for him."

In 2013, Liu took heroin for the first time. She was addicted within a week.

"I've never got drugs out of my mind since then. Our family fell apart," she said.