Reefer madness

By Jiang Jie Source:Global Times Published: 2014-8-24 20:23:01

Overseas influence pushes dope habit beyond celebrity circles


Jaycee Chan, Jackie Chan's son who was recently detained on drug-related charges, appears at a rehearsal in Qingdao, Shandong Province in 2008. Photo: CFP

A man lights a joint in Montevideo, Uruguay, where the production, distribution and sale of marijuana are legalized. Photo: CFP



 

"Go and dump all the 'cookies.' Be quick," read a text message to Xiao Qian (pseudonym). The 26-year-old assistant to an film director then hurried to the villa in the suburban area of Beijing and flushed away the "cookies" as her boss ordered.

The "cookies" lying inside a drawer looked innocent and healthy. Xiao could not hide her curiosity and asked her colleague why her boss would waste food. "Then they shushed me immediately and told me in a really low voice that it was not just cookies. It was 'it,'" Xiao told the Global Times, "it" referring to marijuana.

That happened shortly after actor Zhang Mo, 32, was arrested by police on July 29 for taking marijuana. It was the first time Xiao had even seen an illegal drug. Two years into the entertainment industry, the young assistant began to wonder if the rumored drug subculture was true and how long she could stay away from those "bad influences" within her social circle, especially amid the waves of celebrities punished for drug offenses.

All the tea in China

Drug use among Chinese celebrities has been a hot topic as nearly a dozen TV and film stars have been arrested over the last six months.

The latest detainees were reportedly 32-year-old Jaycee Chan, son of Hong Kong kung fu star and anti-drug ambassador Jackie Chan, and 23-year-old Ko Chen-tung, a movie star from Taiwan.

The two were detained on August 14 after police found more than 100 grams of marijuana in the apartment of Jaycee Chan. Both confessed to taking drugs. Ko was given a sentence of 14 days' administrative detention for drug use by Beijing police, while Chan is under criminal detention for on suspicion of providing a space for others to take drugs.

Although police said they only represent about 0.15 percent of all 7,800 suspects detained for involvement in drug offenses in Beijing this year, many anti-drug experts agreed that many more in the entertainment industry can be tested positive in drug test.

While many Net users shrugged off their apologies, others showed sympathy, even encouragement to the two artists, especially Ko, who is younger and recently rose to fame in a few fashionable movies.

"Many fans, especially die-hard fans, are young and lack sound judgment," a Beijing-based university professor of public security told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.

"Celebrities would naturally face equal punishment like ordinary people for lawbreaking, but as people under the spotlight, they also need to be self-conscious and set good examples to their fans," said the professor who is also an expert in drug crime studies.

Ying Xiaoqiang, a Hangzhou-based media observer and producer, added that present reports on drug busts may also be misleading, as they focus too much on stories about celebrities rather than tragic tales of families being bankrupted by heroin habits. "One of the reason why some celebrities do drugs in the first place: they are rich to support this bad hobby."

A source from an unidentified culture magazine based in Beijing told the Global Times that her office regularly skinned up. "I was stunned the first time I saw it, the leaves wrapped up with paper. It smelled like a cigarette but in a different way. I had a feeling it was some illegal drug, which was later confirmed," said the source, who preferred to be called Gail.

Gail added that her colleagues revealed that the marijuana leaves were directly purchased and sent by farmers from southern China at about 75 yuan ($12) per gram. "They don't seem to care much about getting addicted, saying that it is just like smoking cigarettes. But they did get alarmed when I asked about the price, since I don't do drugs myself," Gail said.

The 23-year-old girl confessed that she felt confused regarding drugs these days. As a new member of the magazine, she had been trying to blend in and get along with other editors, but drug-taking went beyond her bottom line.

"Some new stars, who won fame and fortune overnight, may resort to drugs as they feel empty. Some, coming from doting families, could also have poor self-control in front of obvious bad influence," Ying added.

Overseas influence

According to the unnamed public security professor, many drug users have taken the wrong path under the influence of Western countries, where marijuana is legal or not as strictly banned in China. "Plus given the inadequate knowledge about drugs, it is easy for people to become addicted to marijuana when overseas," he said. Marijuana is only weakly physically addictive, unlike alcohol or tobacco, but, like other habits, may become psychologically addictive.

"Many celebrities take marijuana partly because they often travel abroad and have more opportunity to access the drug," Chen Zhongjun, a deputy head of the anti-drug police team in Jinan, Shandong Province was quoted as saying by Qilu Evening News.

Jaycee Chan also said he had his first taste of marijuana in the Netherlands, where it is legal, but later found it hard to kick the habit.

Many Chinese students in the US and the UK claimed to have smelled marijuana at their dormitories.

A source from the fashion industry, who identified himself as Sam, told the Global Times that he tried marijuana while studying in France and many of his classmates who had traveled to the Netherlands had tried the drug as well. "It wasn't good stuff, but could help me relax," said Sam, "More importantly; I'm not addicted to it."

However, Xu Zhigang, an anti-drug police officer from Mentougou district, Beijing, claimed to the Global Times that marijuana can still be extremely harmful to the body even though its addictive powers are weak.

"Overseas students who fall victim to drugs could affect our anti-drug campaign back home indeed. Three or four years ago, our education campaign was at university, now we are teaching fifth or sixth graders to stay away from drugs," said Xu, suggesting compulsory anti-drug lectures for all students to "understand drugs" before young pupils turned into rebellious souls susceptible to anything new.

Cathy Wong contributed to this story



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