More young girls are using illicit drugs in China's northern Hebei province which has 14,000 registered drug addicts, 155 of them under 18 and 112 of the 155 minor drug users females.
"Although the minor drug addicts make up a small proportion of the total registered addicts, the number is increasing annually. What's worse, many drug users around the age of 20 get involved with drugs before they are 18 years old," state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday quoting a police officer with the anti-drug department.
"I started to take drugs when I was 17. My girlfriend, who was then 15 years old, offered me the drugs," said a 25-year-old drug addict who is receiving treatment in the provincial compulsory rehabilitation center.
A random survey by Xinhua in a girl's dormitory in the provincial compulsory rehabilitation center revealed that six out of the 11 drug addicts accommodated at the facility were born in the 1990s.
Most of these young female drug users come from rich families as well as rural poverty-stricken families with an increasing number of girl drug addicts from the latter group. Since they have not been well-educated and have little social experience, they are more likely to be lured by addicts when they migrate from their hometowns.
Nearly a million Chinese people participated in compulsory isolation for drug rehabilitation over the past four years, says Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu.
He presented a report on China's drug control situation at a bimonthly legislative session that opened in Beijing on Tuesday, also the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Of the total, 641,000 drug users did not relapse in the three years following treatment, he said adding that the government had helped more than 40,000 recovering drug addicts return to society following rehabilitation through various programs, including employment assistance programs.
Meanwhile, three men were executed in China's eastern Fujian province on Monday after being convicted of smuggling a drug popular in night clubs.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.