Beijing police have detained 16 music students after a drug raid on a dormitory at Beijing Midi School of Music on Tuesday.

The raid followed a tipoff to the police that marijuana was being used at the school. All 16 students were drug tested and their tests were positive, police said.

The school published a letter on Thursday in which it apologized for failing to supervise the students. The incident quickly went viral on social media.

The police told the school on Thursday morning that the students would be treated leniently because they had taken the drug for the first time, and all were sincere in their regret over the incident, according to the letter.

The students will be released and return to the school in a few days, the letter said.

By June, there were more than 3 million known drug addicts in China, said Liang Ran, an official at the drug control department of the Ministry of Justice.

Wu Xin, head of the drug control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, said among known addicts there were more than 38,000 under the age of 18 and nearly 1.9 million between 18 and 35 by the end of June.

The latest celebrity to be detained for drug-related crimes is singer Yin Xiangjie. The 46-year-old was arrested again two weeks ago and confessed to illegally possessing and taking drugs.

He had been released from prison in July after serving seven months in jail and being fined 2,000 yuan ($313).

zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn