Needles and syringes are sensitive products in China. The government is afraid that people use needles and syringes to take drugs.
Because China is the country with the most anti-drug efforts in the world, even if we buy needles and syringes in Chinese hospitals and pharmacies, we need a doctor’s prescription.
Hah. Switzerland tried that approach (“suppression”) back in the 1980s to curb its burgeoning heroin problem. The result of course was just rampant spread of HIV, as needles became a scarce resource, causing them to be shared. (In the mid 90s, they did a total 180°, flipping to harm reduction policies that include government clinics where addicts can go and get not only fresh needles, but the heroin itself. The result? The number of addicts plummeted, since every visit to the clinic is an opportunity to divert the addict into treatment, and the heroin-related street crime vanished, since the market for street heroin evaporated. The neighborhood I live in was once at the edge of the worst heroin epicenter in Europe in 1994. You wouldn’t have dared go barefoot in the park. Today, it’s full of kids running around.)
BTW I question your claim of China doing the most to eliminate drugs. In terms of money spent, no doubt USA is #1. In terms of harshest punishment, probably the Philippines. In terms of effective policies centered around harm reduction, Portugal (and Switzerland close behind).
Anyhow, though, it doesn’t look to me as though there are any restrictions on the nonsterile syringes and blunt needles used for non-medical applications. Nor would it make sense to restrict those, since there’s no way you can shoot up with a blunt dispensing needle.
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