TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1979
HONG KONG SPENDS $182 MILLION A YEAR IN FIGHTING
NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE *****
THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IS SPENDING ABOUT $182 MILLION A YEAR IN REAL TERMS IN FIGHTING NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS (ACAN), SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).
ADDRESSING THE OPENING OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION'S (WHO) FIRST INTER-REGIONAL COURSE FOR PHYSICIANS ON THE TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION OF DRUG DEPENDENT PERSONS IN HONG KONG, SIR ALBERT SAID THAT IN A COMMUNITY OF ABOUT FIVE MILLION PEOPLE THIS MIGHT GIVE ONE SOME CAUSE FOR SURPRISE.
+BUT THE REAL SHOCK COMES WHEN YOU REFLECT UPON THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WHICH CHANGES HANDS BETWEEN ADDICTS AND PUSHERS ON THE STREETS OF HONG KONG IN ANY ONE YEAR. WE ESTIMATE THIS, CONSERVATIVELY, TO BE IN THE REGION OF $459 MILLION.
+NO COMMUNITY CAN REMAIN INDIFFERENT TO A FINANCIAL DRAIN OF THIS MAGNITUDE, BUT IT IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOCIAL DISRUPTION WHICH CAUSES US MOST CONCERN.
+ THE IMPLICATIONS ARE OBVIOUSLY SHOCKING, BUT WE SEE NO VIRTUE IN CONCEALING THE REALITIES EITHER FROM OURSELVES OR FROM OTHERS,+ SIR ALBERT SAID.
THE OPENING AT THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER WAS ALSO OFFICIATED BY THE WHO CONSULTANT FOR THE COURSE, PROFESSOR JOSEPH WESTERMEYER, THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY, MR. LEWIS DAVIES, AND THE COMMISSIONER FOR NARCOTICS, MR. PETER LÉE.
TWENTY PHYSICIANS FROM EGYPT, AFGHANISTAN, BURMA, THAILAND MALAYSIA, INDONESIA AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE MONTH-LONG TRAINING COURSE.
SIR ALBERT SAID THAT HONG KONG HAS AN ESTIMATED 35 000 TO 50 000 DRUG ADDICTS, THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHOM ARE MALES IN THE LOWER INCOME GROUPS WHOSE DRUG OF ABUSE IS FUME-INHALED HEROIN, ALTHOUGH THE USE OF INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS HAS INCREASED RAPIDLY.
ALTHOUGH 64 PER CENT OF ADDICTS HERE WERE OVER 30 YEARS OF AGE, AND ONLY 3.7 PER CENT UNDER 20, A DISTURBING 32.5 PER CENT WERE IN THE 20 TO 30 AGE GROUP, SIR ALBERT SAID.
+ALTHOUGH ON THE FACE OF IT THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE ALARMING, WE DERIVE A DEGREE OF CONSOLATION FROM INDICATIONS THAT FOR THE MOMENT THE PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE CONTAINED, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE DRAMATICALLY DIMINISHING NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADDICTS AND THE EQUALLY DRAMATICALLY INCREASING NUMBERS OF THOSE UNDER CARE.
+) HASTEN TO ADD THAT THIS SATISFACTION MUST NOT BE THOUGHT
TO INDICATE ANY DEGREE OF COMPLACENCY.
+BITTER EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT US THAT PROGRESS IS INEVITABLY SLOW AND THAT WHATEVER ADVANCES HAVE BEEN MADE, HAVE ONLY BEEN ACHIEVED AT ENORMOUS COST, EFFORT AND FRUSTRATION ON THE PART OF THOSE IN THE FIELD.
/+WE HAVE