Narcotics offenses have been surging since the economic reforms in China. As a response, laws and governmental decrees have been promulgated and revised to curb these emerging and changing crimes. This article focuses on these evolving laws and policies pertinent to narcotics offenses in China. Using criminal court judgment documents of 362 cases tried after 1978, the authors further analyze the sentencing patterns of these narcotics offenses and examine whether and to what extent sentencing decisions were affected by legal and extralegal factors. The authors conclude with discussions of some theoretical and practical implications based on this research.
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