The number of registered drug users in Zhejiang Province increased by nearly a quarter to 84,000 last year, giving it the fourth highest concentration in the nation, statistics show.

In response, drug control authorities said they will attack the problem by educating people about the scourge of drugs and opening new treatment centers for addicts.

"Nearly 20,000 new drug users were registered last year, up about 23 percent on the year before," Dong Xiaowei, deputy director of the provincial bureau of public security, said.

Zhejiang's drug problem is partly the result of its relatively high percentage of migrant workers, Zhu Jiangang, a staff worker at the provincial publicity department, said on Friday.

He said many drug dealers come from outside the province.

"Meanwhile, the government has been taking tough measures to crack down on drug smuggling," he said.

Zhu said many of the drug addicts are teenagers, accounting for 70 to 80 percent.

"That means we have to pay more attention to educating young people to make them more aware of the harm of taking drugs," he said.

The province has been working to improve anti-drug education.

Courses on the harm caused by drug use are part of the regular school curriculum from grade 5 in primary schools until senior high schools in the province.

However, Zhu said, education alone is not enough to help drug addicts.

Tackling drug abuse requires coordinated efforts from the government, families and communities.

Zhejiang is home to about 18 community clinics that use methadone to treat drug addicts. Doctors, community workers and volunteers also offer counseling there.

"Quitting drugs can be a long and torturous process," Zhu said.

Statistics show that only 4.7 percent of registered drug addicts in the province are receiving methadone treatment, a drug-replacement therapy that is popular in the West and Hong Kong.

"More should be done to educate drug addicts on the necessity of receiving timely treatment," Zhu said.

In a bid to reach out to more drug addicts in the province, the government plans to increase the number of methadone clinics to 30 in the next few years, he said.

"We hope that consistent treatment and education will help more drug users find their way back to their families and communities," the official with the publicity department said.

(China Daily January 15, 2008)