Lack of due process mars China’s war on drugs

By Chi Yin and Jerome A. Cohen, NYU

On the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the Communist Party and the Chinese people would stand firm and defeat illicit drug use through a ‘people’s war’. Xi, not shy about hyperbole, stressed that thousands of generations in China would benefit from a zero-tolerance drug policy. Disappointingly, although Xi frequently advocates for fair adjudication of all cases, he failed to mention how — or whether — due process will figure in China’s war on drugs.

Two days earlier, on 24 June, the Chinese government released its first public report on the nation’s drug situation. It states that over 14 million Chinese — or approximately one in every 100 — have used illicit drugs. About three million are officially registered as illicit drug users, including highly publicised celebrities, such as Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee, who was caught last August using marijuana with his friend Ko Chen-tung, a Taiwanese actor.

In China’s current political climate, prospects for effective legal reforms of the existing system of compulsory rehabilitation cannot be too optimistic. And a greater focus on evidence-based policymaking is needed.

Justice does not come cheap, but it is time for Xi Jinping to give more than lip service to due process of law.

Thumbnail: Flickr Beijing Patrol

Click here to read the full article.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.