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HEALTH
Drug Abuse and Trafficking
The Government is committed to reducing both the supply of and the demand for illicit drugs through a wide range of action and programmes. It is also committed to reducing the prevalence and incidence of drug abuse by developing a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation programme for drug abusers and dissuading people, in particular the young, from taking or experimenting with drugs.
Drug abusers' information is reported to the Central Registry of Drug Abuse by a wide network of reporting agencies. In 1999, there were about 16 000 reported drug abusers. The proportion of the population involved in drug abuse remained relatively small at less than three per thousand.
Of the drug abusers reported to the registry during the year, 19 per cent were newly reported cases, 87 per cent were males and 85 per cent were aged 21 or above. Heroin remained the predominant drug of abuse in Hong Kong, and was used by 87 per cent of the persons reported to the registry. Other common drugs of abuse included cannabis, methylamphetamine ('ice'), triazolam, and cough medicine; while 13 per cent of the drug abusers were reported to have abused more than one drug.
Overall Strategy and Co-ordination
The Government adopts a five-pronged approach in combating drug trafficking and abuse law enforcement, preventive education and publicity, treatment and rehabilitation, research and international co-operation.
Effective law enforcement curtails illicit drug supply and induces drug abusers to seek treatment voluntarily. It also brings compulsory treatment to many who are convicted and have a drug dependency. A comprehensive range of treatment and rehabilitation services is provided to meet the different needs of drug abusers from varying backgrounds.
Preventive education and publicity programmes are organised across the SAR and at the local level to increase public awareness of the drug problem and to encourage people to adopt a drug-free lifestyle. Research studies are conducted on various aspects of the drug abuse problem and the findings facilitate the planning of suitable anti-drug strategies and programmes. Co-operation at the international level, through exchange of information and experience as well as joint action against illicit trafficking, enhances the effectiveness of efforts in all these areas.
These anti-drug efforts are co-ordinated by the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN), a non-statutory body which comprises 16 members, 14 of whom are non-official members. It advises the Government on anti-drug policies and activities and is serviced by the Narcotics Division of the Government Secretariat, which is headed by the Commissioner for Narcotics.
Legislation and Law Enforcement
In 1999, two bills were introduced to further improve the effectiveness of Hong Kong's anti-money-laundering legislation. The Organised and Serious Crimes (Amendment) Bill was introduced to impose statutory duties on money changers and remittance agents to follow anti-money-laundering measures such as customer identification and keeping of transaction records. The Drug Trafficking and Organised Crimes (Amendment) Bill aimed at, among other things, more effective and efficient confiscation of drugs and serious crimes proceeds.