proved to be a practical and useful mode of treatment in Hong Kong. Without the new detoxification centres, for example, the 1,798 addicts who were still undergoing treatment at the end of the year under review would have been spending more than $2 millions a month on heroin and opium.
The methadone maintenance programme
13 For the methadone maintenance programme run by the Medical and Health Department, 1976 was a very busy year with the number of patients under maintenance rising to an all-time high since the programme came into full operation in late 1974. This was obviously due mainly to the dwindling supplies of drugs and soaring prices on the illicit market resulting from effective law enforcement action. Altogether, 3,298 patients were registered for treatment at the four methadone maintenance centres during the year, bringing the total registration to 8,936.
14 The increase in the number of addicts coming forward for methadone maintenance started in the early part of the year as prices of heroin and opium began to rise. New admissions at the centres rose from about 40 to 50 a week in January to over 120 a week in June. On the other hand, the number of addicts turning up daily at the centres for methadone rose from 1,572 at the beginning of the year to an all-time high of 3,047 on 27th August. By the end of the year, more than 2,800 were still visiting these centres daily.
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Chapter 11
Compulsory Treatment and Rehabilitation
Hong Kong's compulsory treatment and rehabilitation programme for drug addicts, which is run by the Prisons Department, continued to expand in 1976. During the year, a total of 2,160 addicts were admitted to the department's four existing drug addiction treatment centres, compared with 2,037 in 1975 and 1,960 in 1974. During the year under review, the department continued to devote much effort to the expansion of its new treatment centre on the island of Hei Ling Chau.
The evolution of Hong Kong's compulsory treatment programme
2
Hong Kong's compulsory treatment programme was started in 1958 when the Prisons Department opened the Tai Lam Prison (now known as Tai Lam Addiction Treatment Centre) where convicted prisoners who had sentences of three years or less and were found to be drug dependent were given specialized treatment and rehabilitation. During the ensuing ten years, extensive research was carried out and valuable experience was gained at the Tai Lam Prison, paving the way for a major expansion of the programme.
3 The expansion came in early 1969 when the Government introduced the Drug Addiction Treatment Centres Ordinance. This ordinance empowers the courts to order a drug addict convicted of an offence punishable with imprison- ment be sent to an addiction treatment centre for 6 to 18 months of custodial treatment, the actual date of discharge within this period being determined in the light of inmates' health, progress in the treatment programme and an assessment of the likelihood of his continuing abstinence from drugs after release. Discharge from a centre is followed by one year of statutory after-care supervision. During the after-care period, the ex-addict can be recalled for further treatment if necessary.
4
The Prisons Department is at present running three treatment centres for men, namely Tai Lam Centre in the New Territories, Tong Fuk Centre on Lantau Island, and a new centre on the island of Hei Ling Chau. A section of the Tai Lam Centre (known as the Tai Lam Centre for Women) is set aside for the treatment of female addicts. (See illustration on p. 62.)
5
The average length of detention for an inmate (as an addict is called in the department's treatment centres) is seven to eight months. After being weaned off narcotic drugs under medical care, the inmate begins to take part in various kinds of indoor and outdoor work, such as the construction of footpaths, picnic sites and sports grounds in rural areas, and repairing government furniture. For women addicts, tailoring is the main employment. These work programmes are designed to help inmates not only in recovering their physical health, but also to develop a sense of achievement and satisfaction which is psychologically important to rehabilitating addicts.
6
An inmate begins to receive individual counselling from after-care officers shortly after admission to a treatment centre. He is first helped to re-establish his relationship with his family. Prior to release, arrangements are made for his
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