Tremendous progress in China’s judicial administration on drug rehabilitation

The Chinese government launched its first campaign against drug abuse right after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and within just three years, helped 20 million drug addicts start a new life.

But it wasn't until May 26, 1963 that the Chinese government imposed an official ban on the abuse of opium and morphine and made it clear that drug abusers would be subject to compulsory rehabilitation.

The ban was seen as the starting point of the PRC's undertaking on drug rehabilitation.

After trying different drug rehabilitation modes during the decades after the founding of the PRC, China enacted its first anti-drug law on June 1, 2008 which rebuilt its drug rehabilitation system by introducing the brand-new mode of compulsory isolation.

In recent years, China's judicial administrative drug rehabilitation organs at different levels have built a system of judicial administration on drug rehabilitation with Chinese characteristics by focusing on the possibility of successful drug abstinence and lowered recidivism rates.

The work of judicial administrative drug rehabilitation is of great and realistic significance to cracking down on drug-related crimes, mitigating the harm of drug abuse, maintaining social stability and helping tens of thousands of drug addicts stay away from drugs, according to the head of the theoretical research center of Shanghai's drug rehabilitation agency and an expert on drug rehabilitation.

To better facilitate judicial administration on drug rehabilitation, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), in efforts to develop more supporting regulations, in recent years has issued six regulatory documents on the code of conduct and correction in the education of drug addicts under compulsory isolation for drug rehabilitation, management of drug rehabilitation, daily life and sanitation, information transparency of drug rehabilitation centers and security work.

The MOJ has also joined with other departments to issue over 100 regulations and rules on drug rehabilitation, ensuring the legitimacy and standardization of its judicial administration.

Since professional medical treatment, correction through education and rehabilitation training are the most important parts of drug rehabilitation, the MOJ has made great efforts to build professional teams.

Official data show that currently there are 57,700 professional officials in China's system of judicial administration on drug rehabilitation, with 33,200 or 57.6 percent of them having an education background in such areas as law, education, psychology, medicine and management of confinement facilities.

In May 2018, the MOJ established a nation-wide work mode for judicial administrative drug rehabilitation which features the transfer of drug addicts between different stages and divisions.

A year after its establishment, the work mode has been rolled out across the country with a capital contribution of 1.29 billion yuan ($182.94 million), 270,000 drug addicts transferred among four different stages and divisions and issuance of 273 provincial-level regulations.

To explore new technologies and methods for drug rehabilitation, judicial administrative drug rehabilitation organs across the country have strengthened their cooperation with universities and scientific research institutions.

So far, they have conducted in-depth cooperation with 246 institutions and 614 experts by launching 31 projects in such areas as medical treatment and psychological correction through education and physical recovery, 21 of which have been completed.

At present, the MOJ is piloting the building of "smart drug rehabilitation" sites in 31 drug rehabilitation facilities in 19 provinces by taking advantage of technologies like big data, the internet of things and artificial intelligence.