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talks, and visits to drug treatment and rehabilitation agencies and the DIC. On completion of the course, scout leaders can help to teach fellow scouts on the harmful effects of drugs, and work for the award of anti-drug badges.
ACAN provided funding support to encourage community involvement in organising anti-drug education and publicity activities. During the year, 19 projects organised by the District Fight Crime Committees, District School Liaison Committees and non-profit making organisations received financial assistance from ACAN under the Community Against Drugs Scheme.
A seminar entitled Drug Abuse Problem among Youth Revisited was held jointly by ACAN and Social Welfare Department in March. The purpose was to enhance social workers' understanding of the drug abuse problem among young people, and to consider effective intervention strategies in tackling the problem. The seminar was attended by some 200 in-service social workers, undergraduates in the social work field and teaching staff of tertiary institutions.
A steering committee was formed under ACAN to review the structure and operation of its Youth Volunteer Group. Arising from the review, the scheme was extended to include both individual and corporate volunteers. By the end of the year, 168 individual and 74 corporate volunteers had registered with the scheme. A day camp gathering was held for individual volunteers followed by a visit to a Christian fellowship group on October 14. A training workshop for individual volunteers was held on December 9. These individual volunteers will be able to join various anti-drug campaigns in spreading the anti-drug message to target groups. A seminar for corporate volunteers was held on December 2.
ACAN's Anti-drug Abuse Hotline (2366 8822) received 22 749 calls during the year. It provides useful information on law enforcement, commonly abused drugs, their harmful effects, drug treatment and rehabilitation services, anti-drug education and publicity through a 24-hour interactive voice response system and automated facsimile service.
Drug Abuse
Statistics on drug abuse are supplied by the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CRDA). Information of drug abusers is collated by the Registry through a wide network of reporting agencies, including law enforcement departments, treatment and welfare agencies, hospitals and clinics. In 2000, about 18 000 drug abusers were reported to the Registry. Among these, 29 per cent were newly reported cases, 22 per cent were aged under 21 and 84 per cent were male. The proportion of drug abusers in the population remained relatively small at about three per thousand.
Heroin was the most common drug of abuse in Hong Kong. It was abused by 74 per cent of the persons reported to the Registry. A comparison with past figures showed that a larger proportion of persons reported to the Registry 34 per cent - abused psychotropic substances. The most common psychotropic substances of abuse included MDMA or 'ecstasy' (14 per cent), ketamine (10 per cent), cannabis (9 per cent) and methylamphetamine or 'ice' (6 per cent). About 19 per cent of the drug abusers were reported to have abused more than one drug.