Key facts
- China's top judicial, prosecutorial, and police authorities issued new sentencing standards for fentanyl-related crimes.
- The guidelines, issued September 18, take effect Wednesday.
- The standards distinguish between approved medical fentanyl variants and nonmedical ones.
- Drug-quantity thresholds are set for offenses including smuggling, trafficking, transporting, manufacturing, and illegally possessing fentanyl-related substances.
China's top judicial, prosecutorial, and police authorities have introduced new sentencing standards for crimes involving fentanyl-related substances. The guidelines, which take effect on Wednesday, aim to create a clearer legal framework by distinguishing between four approved medical drugs and other, nonmedical variants of fentanyl. Issued on September 18 by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security, these standards establish specific drug-quantity thresholds for offenses such as smuggling, trafficking, transporting, manufacturing, and illegally possessing fentanyl-related substances.