ABSTRACT
Opium and other narcotic drugs did not originate in China, but they no doubt had a significant impact on and dramatically changed the course of China’s history. By the time that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949, it was confronted with a staggering problem of drug trafficking and drug use given China’s long drug history. Reportedly, there were an estimated 20 million drug addicts and 300,000 drug traffickers and manufacturers, and the poppy cultivation reached over 1 million hectares nationwide. The CCP has had anti-drug policies since its establishment in 1921. Throughout the late 1920s and 1940s, opium poppy cultivation was declared illegal in the Communist-controlled regions. Evidence of clandestine opium cultivation by the Communists, however, exists during the Yan-an era 1938–1945. The initial success achieved by the CCP on drug problems and control in the early years was accomplished through a series of comprehensive anti-drug campaigns.
