China tightens control over psychotropic substances

China has restricted the manufacture and use of psychotropic and anaesthetic substances amid growing abuse of synthetic drugs based on them, according to the National Narcotics Control Commission.

Different from traditional plant-based drugs, an increasing number of man-made narcotic products based on psychotropic and anaesthetic substances have similar, even stronger effect, and are widely used worldwide, especially among young people, the commission said Thursday in a statement.

"The manufacture of these new types of drugs has developed on a considerate scale in the Yangtze River Delta and has ties with overseas drug trafficking groups," it said, referring to an economically-developed area in east China that encompasses Shanghai and neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

According to the commission, 116 types of psychotropic substances are on the current control list, and more will be included based on real situations.

The commission is also planning a campaign to check the manufacturing and use of listed substances and keep a record of all groups and individuals involved, promising more efforts to accelerate legislation on mapping out detailed penalties for the abuse of listed substances. Endi