This study explores the role of China's criminal justice system in treating drug abusers and provides a preliminary assessment of the mandatory treatment centers administered by police and reeducation-through-labor camps managed by correction agencies in China. The exploration and assessment are conducted using data collected from recent surveys of drug users in several mandatory treatment centers and a reeducation-through-labor camp in a large city of China in 2009. The data reveal that the treatment involvement levels of drug users in these mandatory treatment centers and reeducation-through-labor camps varied and their perceptions of the treatments they had received for their recovery seem fairly positive. The implication of these findings was discussed in the context of Chinese social and legal tradition. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.