Many thanks to the person who shared that you can ask your local Chinese embassy for a copy of „The Governance Of China“.
I reached out to the Chinese embassy in Vienna and got not only a super friendly response, but also an invite to the embassy + 6 copies of the German translation (2x II, III, IV)!
I have to disagree here, I think for it to be analogous, there would need to be a specific focus on marijuana. China has a blanket disdain for drugs excepting alcohol and tobacco, and that's only because those were already deeply entrenched in society and it would have been counterproductive to restrict or ban them, though there are now restrictions on excessive drinking and smoking in shared spaces to curb the worst excesses.
I think perspective matters a lot here, because to Chinese people, it isn't just about weed being no more harmful than tobacco or something; this is something ingrained in the national consciousness, of drugs being foisted upon a people who didn't want it, and having irreparable damage done as a result. Lumping weed in the same vein as opium or meth might seem like an extreme overreaction to you, but it represents a "we're not taking any chances with this" mentality that derives from prior experience of having your society torn apart by them, perfectly rational in their experience.
This is one of those things where its not CPC boomers being out of touch and overreaching, this is something that the vast majority of people in China hold an opinion on and have presented the CPC with a mandate to do something about it.
That said, I do think at least laws on weed will be relaxed further as China becomes more secure in its position in the world, especially since there's precedent for its use in ancient China and its still regarded as having medicinal properties in TCM, its just judged that the risks are not worth it at this time, give it 20 years or something.
I appreciate you typing that out and I agree that it will take time and more "cross pollination" for attitudes to change in China. I am dubious though of the argument that China's attitudes (towards cannabis and drugs) are unique to it's own history. I think they are basically on track with much of the rest of the world over a contemporary period of time. As you say, even China has a historical relationship with cannabis as medicine. China is also certainly not the only nation with negative attitudes towards cannabis currently. It is only recently that the US and some European countries have been relaxing about it. I have met many people who lump cannabis in with heroin and crack as simply "drugs". It's just been due to propaganda and ignorance.