Jaycee Chan, son of kungfu superstar Jackie Chan, was detained for use of illegal substances in Beijing. Photo provided to China Daily

Young netted in drug abuse blitz

Chinese celebrities caught with drugs

More than 70 million Chinese Internet users have followed Monday's news of the drug busts of Jaycee Chan, the son of marital arts superstar Jackie Chan, and Taiwan actor Kai Ko, the latest in a string of celebrities caught in China's narcotics crackdown.

By?Tuesday afternoon, the post "Jaycee Chan and Kai Ko were detained for using drugs" was?one of the?most-read subjects on Sina Weibo with 145,000 comments.

Jaycee Chan, 32, an actor was detained on Monday for hosting others in smoking marijuana at his home in Beijing's Dongcheng district, the municipal police said on its official micro blog. Chan was reportedly found with more than 100 grams of marijuana.

Kai Ko, 23, also an actor was also arrested for allegedly taking drugs in Dongcheng district, the police said, adding that another two suspects, including the one who sold the drug, have been also detained.

Kai Ko received a 14-day administrative detention, according to the actor's broker company. The young Chan was given a criminal detention, police said.

Movie star Jackie Chan has yet to make a comment about his son's detention.

Sina Weibo has polled public opinion over the frequent cases of celebrities using drugs. The micro-blogging service found more than 64,000 respondents strongly urged celebrities to stop taking drugs, while more than 25,000 people said the pop stars disappointed their fans.

Some pointed out that Jaycee Chan and Kai Ko allegedly used marijuana, which is different from stronger drugs. Some netizens pointed out marijuana is legal in some countries, but not in China.

According to current Chinese laws, the use of marijuana is still illegal and people who use it will face punishment just as would for using other drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine, said Li Wenjun, associate professor of drug prohibition studies at the People's Public Security University of China.

Li continued that although marijuana is allowed in some regions and countries, such as the Netherlands and a few states in the United States, governments in those areas never encourage people to use it and regard it as a bad habit.

"Marijuana has addictive substances that are bad to people's health, especially the central nervous system," Li explained.

Cao Yin contributed to the story.