Police officer tells drug control stories to students at the Central Junior Middle School in Baoying county, Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province on June 26, 2023. Photo: VCG

China's newly revised Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, which is set to take effect in 2026, has aroused widespread concern in recent days for introducing a new system to seal records of certain public security violations. The fact that records of administrative penalties for drug use are also within the scope of sealed records has sparked heated debate. 

The newly revised law stipulates in Article 136 that records of public security violations shall be sealed and must not be disclosed to any organization or individual, except when relevant state organs require them for investigations or when authorized entities access them in accordance with laws and regulations. Agencies that obtain such records are required to keep them confidential. 

Zhou Zhaocheng, a lawyer from Beijing-based An Jian Law Offices, said the newly introduced provision requires sealing all completed administrative punishment records, including those related to drug use, gambling, prostitution, assault, theft, fraud, disturbing public order and other violations. The key premise of this provision is that the punishment must has been fully completed and must meet the conditions for sealing. 

The sealed records are not erased but restricted from being accessed by unrelated parties in order to protect the rights of offenders to reintegrate into society while allowing inquiries in specific scenarios such as repeated offenses or entry into certain regulated professions. The move is to balance public safety with social governance needs, Zhou told the Global Times on Monday. 

According to the law, the record-sealing rule applies only to administrative public security violations that do not yet constitute criminal punishment. These records remain fully preserved within the public security system and will not be deleted. 

Taking drug use as an example, if an individual is administratively detained solely for consuming a small amount of drugs, the record is subject to the sealing system. However, if the act constitutes a crime such as drug smuggling or trafficking, it must be excluded from the sealing rule, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. 
 
To ease the public concern, Zhou noted that China's dynamic management system for drug users remains in place, with regular monitoring and checks by public security authorities. Restricted professions still require a "clean drug record" according to laws and regulations such as the regulations on the application and use of motor vehicle driving license and the regulations on kindergarten work, and relevant agencies can lawfully access sealed records, ensuring oversight is maintained.

The system does not condone illegal behaviors but reflects the progress in the rule of law and legal modernization, achieving a balance between public safety and the privacy and personal dignity of offenders, Zhou said. 

Public concerns stem from last week's social media hashtag of Nantong Wenlü, which refers to the Nantong city culture and tourism bureau, after a message left by the bureau's social media platform under a video popularizing the newly revised law. 

It threw out a question "Which young master has become addicted to drugs?" - stirring public concern about whether the new record-sealing mechanism was introduced as an attempt to protect certain privileged groups. 

The number of followers on the bureau's official Douyin account rose by hundreds of thousands overnight last Thursday. As of Monday, the number of followers has exceeded 4 million, up from the previous 353,000. 

Some people are concerned that police will "no longer publicize drug cases involving celebrities," leading to the "concealment of drug-related behavior" and weakening the deterrent effect. Experts emphasize that the system provides equal protection for all, not special treatment for certain groups. 

According to Zhou, record sealing offers equal protection for all offenders, not a green light for specific groups. Its legislative intent is to give those who have been administratively punished a chance to reintegrate into society, prevent systemic discrimination caused by lifelong stigma, and reduce the chance of reoffending out of hopelessness. In the long run, this approach respects individual's rights while enhancing social governance and maintaining social harmony and stability.