Comparison of drug abuse in Germany and China

摘要： <正> Drug abuse has a long,but also different history in Germany and China.TheOpium War largely influenced the history of China in 19th century;however,China was once recognized as a drug-free nation for 3 decades from the 1950s tothe 1980s.Drug abuse has spread quickly since re-emerging as a national problemin China in the late 1980s.The number of registered drug abusers increased from70 000 in 1990 to more than 1 million by the end of 2005.In past decades,illicit drugtrafficking and production have swept most provinces in China,and drug abusehas caused many problems for both abusers and the community.One major drug-related problem is the spread of HIV,which has caused major social and economicdamage in China.Germany,the largest developed European country,also facesthe drug and addiction problem.Germany has about 150 000 heroin addicts,forwhom HIV/AIDS has become a serious threat since the mid 1980s.To control thedrug problem,the German Government adopted the"Action Plan on Drugs andAddiction"in 2003;the China Central Government approved a similar regulationin the antidrug campaign in 2005.Germany has experience in reducing drug-re-lated harm.The methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program has run formore than 20 years and the public has become more tolerant of addicts.In 2003,China began the MMT program for controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.It isnecessary for China to learn from developed countries to acquire success in itsantidrug campaign.In this review,we will go over the differences and similaritiesin drug abuse between Germany and China.The differences are related to history,population and economics,drug policy context,drug laws,HIV/hepatitis C virusinfection,the MMT program and so on.These 2 nations have drug abuse prob-lems with different histories and currently use different approaches to handleillicit drug marketing and use.The legal penalties for illicit drug offences reflectthe social differences of these 2 nations with respect to the seriousness of particu-lar types of crimes.The characteristics of the MMT program may also influencepatterns of drug abuse in these 2 nations and China should improve the MMTprogram based on the successful model in Europe,the USA,and Australia.Werecommend more dialogue and collaboration between Germany and China. ... （共14頁）