Similar special columns will appear on 41 major local newspapers from 28 provinces to support the country's "people's war" on drugs as of June 1, sources with China 's Public Security Ministry said.

It will be the first time that so many mainstream newspapers open the same columns on drug prevention during the same period, said the ministry. The National Narcotics Control Commission and related departments initiated the unusual campaign to match the nationwide battle against drug crimes.

The Chinese government has decided to launch a "people's war" against drugs during the rest of this year, aiming at checking the sources of drugs, curbing the harmful influence of drug crimes and keeping the number of drug addicts from growing.

China had 791,000 drug addicts at the end of 2004, up 6.8 percent from 2003, involving 2,102 counties. Young people under 35 years old, who usually lack necessary awareness of drug's harms, cover about 70 percent of the total drug addicts, according to the commission.

"It is crucial to increase the public's awareness of drug prevention during the war against drugs. So we chose those local mainstream newspapers as major fields to publicize the drug information," said an official of the ministry.

In 2004, China printed 25,000 wall maps, 100,000 Questions and Answers, and sent 100,000 small groups to publicize drug prevention information across the country, according to the commission.

China's central authorities have attached great importance to the anti-drug work. Last year, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a special meeting to discuss anti-drug policy and the State Council issued a five-year layout of anti-drug activities.

Source: Xinhua