今天是国际禁毒日。我们高兴地看到，世界各国正携起手来向毒品宣战。16天前，联合国大会结束了为期三天的世界反毒品特别会议，从而吹响了规模空前的全球反毒战的号角。

Today is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit¹ Trafficking. To our delight, countries around the world are joining hands to combat illicit drug abuse. Sixteen days ago, the General Assembly of the United Nations concluded a three-day Special Session on fighting the world drug problem, sounding a clarion² call for an unprecedented³ worldwide war against drugs.

人类将要迎接一个新的千年，解决毒品问题显得越来越紧迫。尽管许多国家加强了反毒品的力度，可是毒品市场的泛滥状况越来越严重。据估计，全球毒品的贸易额已达到每年4000亿美元之巨。吸毒者约占全世界人口的3%。统计数据表明，每年全世界死于毒品者达10万人之多，另外还有1千万吸毒者丧失工作能力。

As mankind is about to embrace a new millennium⁴, the drug issue takes on an even greater urgency. Despite of strengthened anti-drug efforts of many countries, the spread of illicit drugs averages US$400 billion each year. Illicit drug consumption involves about 3 percent of the world’s population. Statistics indicate as many as 100,000 people die from drugs every year worldwide, and 10 million drug users are deprived of the capability⁵ to work.

毒品问题直接关系到社会稳定与安全，关系到全人类的命运。世界各国都应该充分意识到反毒任务的紧迫性，要采取切实有效的措施扫除毒魔。中国政府始终十分关注毒品问题，并通过法律、政治、行政、经济、文化、教育和其他手段来综合治理吸毒贩毒问题。最近在北京举办的全国反毒展览会已吸引了50万参观者。展览会的目的是集中揭露毒品对社会和家庭造成的危害。

The drug issue has direct bearing on social stability, social security and the destiny of mankind as a whole. All countries in the world should be fully⁶ aware of the pressing and demanding task of combating drugs and take concrete and effective measures to wipe out the evil. The Chinese Government has always paid great attention to drug control and taken an integrated approach to deal with drug abuse and drug trafficking through legal, political, administrative⁷, economic, cultural, educational, and other means. A recent national drug prevention exhibition staged in Beijing drew half a million visitors so far. The exhibition was intended to spotlight⁸ the damage drugs inflict⁹ upon society and family.

越来越多的人，尤其是年轻人，他们或出于无知，或为了寻求刺激，或受到其他吸毒者的影响，成了毒品的牺牲品。在全国登记在案的吸毒人员中，80%为年轻人。因此，中国的反毒战任重而道远。我们首先要做的是提高人们对毒品危害的认识，给吸毒者以更多的帮助，使他们戒除不良的习惯，实施更严厉的法规打击毒品犯罪行为。

Out of ignorance, or driven by their desire for stimulus¹⁰, or simply influenced by drug-users, a growing number of people, especially youngsters, have fallen victim to drugs. Of the drug addicts¹¹ registered throughout the country, 80 percent of them are youths. Therefore, much still remains¹² to be done in China’s anti-drug campaign. On top of the agenda, there is the need to raise people’s awareness¹³ of the harm of drugs, to provide more help for drug addicts to get rid of the unhealthy habit and to enforce stricter laws for drug related crimes.

我们希望各国政府在国际反毒合作中担负起应有的责任，将法网撒向毒品市场的每个环节，为我们的后代创建一个无毒的世界。

We hope governments around the world will take their due responsibilities in international anti-drug cooperation, and spread the net of justice over every link of the drug market, so that a drug-free world will be created for our future generations.