Hengyang News Network — On June 25, on the occasion of the 39th International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Hengyang Municipal Intermediate People's Court and the Municipal People's Procuratorate jointly held a press conference on combating drug crimes at the Municipal Court's press center. Guan Linli, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Hengyang Municipal Party Committee, was invited to preside over the press conference and briefed the attendees on the work of the Municipal Court and Procuratorate in combating drug crimes. Liu Weihua, Member of the Party Group and Vice President of the Municipal Court, and Deng Yanhua, Member of the Party Group and Deputy Chief Procurator of the Municipal Procuratorate, respectively released typical cases of combating drug crimes. Li Guofeng, Chief Judge of the First Criminal Division of the Municipal Court, and Zhang Jun, Director of the Second Criminal Prosecution Department of the Municipal Procuratorate, answered questions from media reporters.

Since 2025, the city's courts and procuratorates have worked in synergy, continuously intensifying efforts to combat drug crimes, effectively consolidating the legal defense against drugs, and sparing no effort to protect the safety of people's lives and property, as well as social harmony and stability. The city's procuratorial organs approved the arrest of 475 drug offenders and prosecuted 529 drug offenders, while the city's courts concluded first-instance trials of 389 drug crime cases. The number of drug crime cases in the city continues to decline, and indicators such as drug consumption detected in wastewater, the number of existing drug users, newly discovered drug users, and traditional drug crime activities have all dropped to historical lows.

Facing the new trend of decreasing traditional drug crimes and increasing new-type drug crimes, the city's courts and procuratorial organs adhere to strict legal punishment, enhance comprehensive governance effectiveness, and have achieved notable results. They insist on unremitting strict punishment. Implementing the policy of severe punishment, maintaining a high-pressure crackdown posture, carrying out full-chain strikes against various source-related drug crimes and "retail" drug trafficking at the end of the drug trade chain; focusing on punishing new-type drugs, drug substitutes, and drug crimes that harm young people. Severe legal penalties are meted out to drug lords, professional drug traffickers, recidivists, repeat drug offenders, those who violently resist law enforcement, and other criminals with serious offenses, deep subjective malice, and high personal danger, with a severe punishment rate reaching 16%.

They also insist on balancing punishment and governance. Promoting source governance and comprehensive governance, strengthening anti-drug publicity, conducting over 80 campaigns to bring law into schools and communities, exposing the disguises and abuse hazards of new-type drugs, and enhancing the public's ability to recognize, prevent, and resist drugs. In response to systemic loopholes and regulatory blind spots discovered during case handling, they promptly issue judicial recommendations and procuratorial suggestions, striving to achieve the effect of "handling one case, governing a whole area." They also insist on the coordination of supervision, restriction, and mutual cooperation. Under the strong leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and the effective coordination of the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the courts and procuratorates have strengthened collaborative efforts, holding over 20 special consultations on complex, difficult, and new-type drug cases to jointly address challenges in evidence collection and legal application, unify judicial standards, and ensure precise and effective crackdowns.