Effective July 1, 2026, 16 substances including tiletamine and diflomedetomide have been officially incorporated into the Catalogue of Non-Medicinal Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. This marks another major upgrade to China’s anti-drug governance. To date, China has placed 412 non-medicinal narcotic and psychotropic substances under state control, alongside three entire categories of substances: fentanyls, synthetic cannabinoids and nitazenes.
On June 25, the Supreme People’s Court held a press conference themed "Punishing New-Type Drug Crimes in Accordance with the Law and Preventing Substance Abuse Among Minors". The briefing noted that while China’s overall drug control situation continues to improve, profound and complex shifts are taking place. In terms of abused substances, the structure of drug abuse has changed markedly. Cases involving psychotropic substances and novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are on the rise, and etomidate has surpassed heroin to become the second most severely abused drug. In terms of abuser demographics, young people constitute the primary group abusing new-type drugs and uncontrolled addictive substances, with a clear trend of younger offenders and underage abusers.
A critical red flag is that modern new-type drugs have abandoned traditional powder and crystal forms and are secretly circulated under the guise of daily consumer goods such as e-cigarettes, milk tea drinks and candies, making identification and governance increasingly challenging. What new traits define these emerging drugs? How can the public recognize and guard against them? What institutional breakthroughs are needed for effective regulation? A reporter from Legal Daily interviewed authoritative experts on these issues.
Severe Addiction and Devastating Harm
In March 2026, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released typical cases where procuratorial organs punished crimes of producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy products in accordance with the law. One case involved Sun Moudong and accomplices using tiletamine, a veterinary anesthetic, to manufacture e-cigarettes.
From January to July 2024, Sun Moudong organized seven associates including Qiu Moushan to rent a residential apartment in Shanghai. They purchased nicotine-free e-liquids and pods, mixed in tiletamine powder sourced from unlicensed underground markets in Guangxi, and sold the finished cartridges for over 1.7 million RMB in total. In February 2026, the Xuhui District People’s Court of Shanghai sentenced Sun Moudong to eight years and eleven months in prison with a fine of one million RMB for the crime of producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy products.
Media reports cited another case: Chen, a 36-year-old fire safety inspector from Anhui, was responsible for identifying safety hazards in his daily work. In September 2024, after his 3-year-old son’s birthday banquet, Chen accompanied friends to a KTV, where he was offered an ordinary-looking e-cigarette marketed as a stress reliever. Relaxed by alcohol, he tried it and fell victim to substance abuse.
After long-term abuse, Chen suffered dizziness, hand tremors and an abrupt collapse in memory, completely destabilizing his once orderly life. He later learned the e-liquid contained etomidate, a clinical anesthetic only administered by physicians during surgeries. Illicit inhalation easily causes dual addiction and inflicts irreversible damage on the central nervous system, heart and lungs.
Li Wenjun, Director of the Center for Anti-Drug Theory and Policy Research at the People’s Public Security University of China, explained from a toxicological perspective that e-cigarettes laced with controlled substances such as tiletamine and etomidate are far more harmful than regular e-cigarettes. Synthetic cannabinoids, etomidate, tiletamine and similar chemicals disrupt the secretion of brain neurotransmitters comprehensively, taking effect within minutes of inhalation. A single excessive dose may trigger shock or sudden death. Adolescents with underdeveloped brains sustain far graver permanent injuries than adults.
Tang Wen, a full-time lawyer at Guangdong Zhuojun Law Firm, further clarified that "high" e-cigarettes lack legal production qualifications, and production, circulation, possession and inhalation all constitute illegal drug-related conduct. The intoxicating sensation derives from prohibited chemicals rapidly entering the bloodstream through the lungs and acting directly on the central nervous system, quickly inducing euphoria, hallucinations, vertigo and limb numbness. These substances are far more addictive than standard nicotine products, and users easily develop compulsive dependence once exposed.
Four-Step Identification Method to Distinguish Counterfeit Products
The Supreme People’s Court press conference stated that illicit controlled substances come in countless constantly updated varieties, including psychotropics diverted from medical institutions and pharmacies, contraband smuggled from overseas, and novel psychoactive substances such as metomidetomide and isopropafetamide. They are disguised as everyday goods like milk tea, chocolate and e-cigarettes, or marketed as weight-loss and energy-boosting products, and frequently used in criminal activity. "High" e-cigarettes represent the primary medium of substance abuse among minors, with etomidate as the most common adulterant in their liquid cartridges.
Experts interviewed explained that the extreme concealment of these new drugs stems from three layers of upgraded disguise.
First, fully consumerized appearance. Tang Wen noted that "high" e-cigarettes have evolved beyond standard vape pens into trendy forms including milk tea cups, cola cans, candy sticks, neutral pens, USB flash drives and oral liquid bottles dubbed "high water". Almost all are unlicensed "three-no" products with no warning labels or ingredient lists, nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye. Traffickers add heavy fruit, cream and mint flavors to mask the pungent odor of psychotropic chemicals, leaving no noticeable scent after use and lowering public vigilance.
Second, continuous molecular modification of prohibited ingredients. Li Wenjun pointed out that traffickers evade regulation by slightly altering the molecular structure of already controlled substances to create equivalent alternatives such as metomidetomide and diflomedetomide. This creates a vicious cycle where newly controlled chemicals are immediately replaced by novel analogues, the core driver of evolving drug disguise tactics.
Third, fully concealed transaction chains. Han Yingwei, Director of the Criminal-Civil-Administrative Cross Practice Department at Yingke Beijing Law Firm, added that disguise extends beyond physical products to coded marketing language and hidden sales channels. Drug circles use coded slang such as "flying stick", "happy water" and "special blended e-liquid" to refer to contraband, recruiting buyers through private social media messages. Transactions rely on anonymous online transfers, same-city instant local delivery and split packaged courier shipments to evade regulatory oversight, making detection extremely difficult.
Han Yingwei clarified that under Chinese law, all state-controlled narcotic and psychotropic substances are legally defined as drugs. E-cigarettes adulterated with such chemicals qualify as drugs regardless of purity, and production, sale, transportation or possession carry criminal liability.
Despite evolving disguise tactics, experts shared practical screening methods derived from frontline anti-drug experience. Li Wenjun summarized a four-step identification rule: examine packaging credentials, smell for unusual odors, verify sales channels and observe physical reactions after inhalation.
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Check packaging qualifications: Legitimate e-cigarettes display official brand names, factory addresses, certificates and ingredient labels, while illicit "high" e-cigarettes have crude packaging with missing information.
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Detect abnormal odors: Legal vapes carry primarily tobacco aromas; drug-laced versions emit strange, sharp odors or overwhelmingly artificial fruit scents.
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Screen sales channels: Exercise extreme caution with e-cigarettes sold privately in KTVs, bars or advertised online using coded terms like "high" or "fly".
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Monitor physical symptoms: Dizziness, unsteady gait and emotional outbursts immediately after inhalation strongly indicate drug-adulterated e-cigarettes.
Building a Comprehensive Co-Governance System
Local authorities have pioneered institutional responses to the governance challenges posed by consumer-disguised new-type drugs.
Since 2025, Zhejiang has fully integrated all anti-drug procedures into legal frameworks to strengthen regulatory safeguards. It revised and implemented the Zhejiang Anti-Drug Regulations to codify local drug control experience, and issued the Interim Measures for the Temporary Control of Unregulated Addictive Hazardous Substances in Zhejiang together with supporting administrative penalty benchmarks to impose temporary restrictions on nitrous oxide, tiletamine and related substances.
Shaanxi leverages coordination by the provincial anti-drug committee to improve a joint meeting mechanism for heads of public security, procuratorial and court organs. Regular joint research sessions with market supervision and drug regulatory authorities create a closed-loop governance framework featuring front-end administrative control, severe criminal penalties for violations and bidirectional clue transfers, alongside unified law enforcement and judicial standards. Multi-department joint inspections target chemical supply stores and medical aesthetic institutions to block illegal diversion of legal raw materials at the source.
Interviewee experts proposed national long-term co-governance solutions covering institutional design, law enforcement and public education.
Tang Wen advocated improving proactive pre-classification control mechanisms, drawing on the successful whole-category control model for synthetic cannabinoids to group and regulate etomidate, tiletamine and structural analogues with equivalent hallucinogenic and anesthetic effects, shifting from reactive case-by-case control to pre-emptive risk containment. Full traceability under the E-Cigarette Administration Measures must be enforced for legal vape production and sales, while veterinary and medical psychotropic drugs and chemical intermediaries require strict inventory flow management to block supplies to underground drug-making workshops.
Li Wenjun suggested joint campaigns by market supervision and tobacco monopoly bureaus to eliminate unlicensed vape shops and illegal online sales accounts, with regular inspections around schools and entertainment districts to shut down unlicensed black workshops blending and modifying e-cigarettes. Full QR code traceability should be mandated for veterinary tiletamine, banning online sales of veterinary anesthetic preparations entirely.
For public outreach, Li Wenjun recommended abandoning generic slogan-style propaganda in favor of targeted visual warning materials for adolescents, including addict testimonies, trial footage, comparative imaging of bodily damage and real case studies to illustrate irreversible brain injuries, cardiopulmonary disease, mental disorders and permanent criminal records resulting from "high" e-cigarette use, dispelling the misconception that occasional use as stress relief is harmless.
Tang Wen proposed tiered legal education for students, parents and retail operators to clarify legal consequences: inhaling adulterated e-cigarettes constitutes an administrative drug violation resulting in permanent criminal records, while trafficking, transporting or bulk possession triggers felony charges carrying fixed-term imprisonment and heavy fines, strengthening legal deterrence.(Outlook New Era)
Edit：Sun Kenan Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：legaldaily.com.cn
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