Public Sentencing of Drug Trafficking Case Involving E-cigarette Pads

According to a recent report by Xinhua News Agency, the Qionghai City People's Court publicly announced the verdict of a case involving the sale of Etizolam ("up head e-cigarette") drugs. The defendant, Huang, was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for drug trafficking and fined 6,000 yuan. This is the first case of Etizolam drug trafficking heard by the Qionghai City People's Court since Etizolam was classified as a second-class psychotropic drug starting October 1, 2023.

The defendant Huang, who began using drugs multiple times since 2011 and was ordered to compulsory drug rehabilitation three times, was found to have purchased e-cigarette pods containing the drug etizolam through the internet in September 2023. Despite it being classified as a Class II drug by the government that same day, Huang still bought from suppliers and sold to three individuals, making a profit of 550 yuan. The following day, Huang and one of the buyers were arrested by the police, who also seized some electronic pods. Testing revealed that all the pods contained etizolam, and samples of the buyers' hair or urine as well as Huang's also tested positive for etizolam.

The People's Court of Qionghai City has ruled that the defendant Huang has committed the crime of drug trafficking. The reasons for the drug trafficking have been identified, and the public prosecution process has ended. Taking into account factors such as the number of times and total amount of drugs sold by the defendant Huang, a comprehensive comparison of the severity of the criminal acts, the extent of harm caused to society, and the defendant's attitude of admitting guilt after the incident, Huang has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison and fined 6,000 yuan.

According to the announcement issued by the National Medical Products Administration and the Ministry of Public Security, on the adjustment of the list of anesthetic drugs and psychoactive drugs (No. 120, 2023), etomidate (excluding drugs containing etomidate legally approved for sale in China) was included in the list of second-class psychoactive drugs on October 1, 2023. Therefore, as of October 1, 2023, the use of e-cigarettes containing etomidate is considered drug abuse, and the sale of e-cigarettes containing etomidate is considered drug trafficking.