The number of registered drug abusers in Shanghai reached 81,269 by the end of 2015, up 6.2 percent from the previous year, anti-drug officials said yesterday.
The annual growth rate has dropped from 10 percent five years ago due to education drives and crackdowns on drug trafficking, said Wang Shiping, director of the anti-drug office in Shanghai.
Last year, a total of 4,446 people were arrested for drug-related crimes, and 1,882 kilograms of narcotics were seized, including a record 2.4 tons of methamphetamine, also known as ice.
The number of newly identified drug abusers also decreased by nearly 30 percent in 2015 over the previous year.
Among registered drug abusers, the vast majority of whom are male, two thirds were local residents and one third were from outside Shanghai.
But among newly identified abusers, 52 percent were from elsewhere.
