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HEALTH
Regular work continued on the examination of pharmaceutical products purchased by the government for use in its hospitals and clinics and also those items submitted for registration under the provisions of the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations. The labora- tory's role in this respect ensures that pharmaceutical products comply with the required standards of safety, quality and efficiency before being offered to the public.
The laboratory continued to provide a practical and advisory service to the Urban Council and Urban Services Department in respect of the quality control of imported and locally manufactured foods. Foods are laboratory-tested for compliance with the regulations made under the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, some of which necessitate extensive investigations. During the year, a comprehensive survey of the chemical composition of branded mineral waters was carried out for consumer protection. The laboratory also provided a urinalysis service in support of the methadone main- tenance and detoxification programme for drug abusers.
Narcotics
Drug abuse is a long-standing problem in Hong Kong with serious social, economic, legal, medical and psychological implications. The government's expressed policy is to stop the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs into Hong Kong, to develop a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation programme for drug addicts and to dissuade residents, particularly young people, from experimenting with drugs so as to eradicate drug abuse in the community.
The exact number of addicts in Hong Kong is not known. However, findings from the government's computerised Central Registry of Drug Abuse and other linked indicators show that the size of the addict population in 1984 was in the region of 50 000.
Data collected by the registry, based on 250 000 reports on 49 000 individuals, indicate that 93 per cent are male and seven per cent female. As to age distribution, 72 per cent were over 30 as at the end of 1984, 23 per cent were in the 21 to 30 bracket and five per cent were under 21. The principal drug of abuse in Hong Kong is heroin, which was used by 98 per cent of the addicts reported to the registry in 1984. Opium abusers accounted for one per cent and the remaining one per cent took other drugs. The most widely-used method of taking heroin was by injection followed by fume inhaling, commonly known as 'chasing the dragon'. Opium abusers generally smoke the drug.
Typical addicts are adult males over 21 in the lower income group, generally employed as casual labourers or as unskilled or semi-skilled workers and living in overcrowded conditions. They have generally not more than six years of formal education and are single or, if married, usually separated from their families.
The government's overall strategy to combat drug abuse consists of four main elements - law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, preventive education and publicity, and international co-operation. Law enforcement is the responsibility of the Narcotics Bureau and individual district formations of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, and the Customs and Excise Department. Treatment and rehabilitation are undertaken by the Medical and Health Department, the Correctional Services Department and a government-subvented voluntary agency, the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers (SARDA). Preventive education and publicity rests mainly with the Narcotics Division of the Government Secretariat, the Information Services Department and various government district offices concerned with community building efforts. International co-operation is the responsibility of all.
The work undertaken in each of these four areas is inter-related. Effective law enforce- ment action pushes up the price of illicit drugs and reduces their supply, thus inducing