Drugged driving may get heavier punishment

A police officer prepares to destroy drugs in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, June 23, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's authorities are to consider introducing punishment for driving under the influence of drugs into the country's criminal law to safeguard road safety, reports the Beijing Times on Wednesday.

An anonymous person in charge of the Public Security Ministry's anti-drug campaign said they are working with the drug control office, the National People Congress, and the Supreme People's Court to enlist the driving under the influence of drugs into criminal law.

Currently drugged driving is punished according to road safety laws if the behavior leads to a serious road accident. And if the drugged driving behavior does not cause an accident, then the driver would only be revoked of their driving license according to the traffic law or punished according to the anti-drug law only for using drugs.

Drivers will experience illusion and lose their usual level of judgment during driving after using drugs.

Many countries like the US, Singapore, Japan and Australia have zero tolerance for the driving under the influence of drugs.

The number of registered drug users in China has reached nearly 3 million, with half of them dependent on synthetic drugs.