SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1980
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SNT OPENS YUEN LONG ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN
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DRUG ABUSE IS STILL ONE OF HONG KONG'S MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEMS, SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY.
SPEAKING AT THE OPENING OF THE YUEN LONG DISTRICT ANTI- NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN, MR AKERS-JONES SAID AS LONG AS IT REMAINED SO THERE WOULD BE A DANGER THAT YUEN LONG AND ITS CITIZENS, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER ONES, WOULD BE AFFECTED OR AT RISK.
WHILE THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE REMAINED SO ENORMOUSLY PROFITABLE, HE SAID, IT WOULD CONTINUE TO ATTRACT THE CRIMINALS WHO EXPLOITED IT AND SO LONG AS WE HAD AS MANY AS 40 000 ADDICTS IN OUR MIDST THE PRESENT ESTIMATED NUMBER THEY WOULD REMAIN, UNHAPPILY, A RESERVOIR OF POSSIBLE INFECTION TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
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+AND LET US NOT FORGET THAT HONG KONG'S GREATEST ASSET IS ITS PEOPLE, AND THAT THE YOUNG REPRESENT THE FUTURE OF ANY SOCIETY, HE SAID,
MR AKERS-JONES SAID AS A RESULT OF YEARS OF DEDICATED EFFORTS BY MANY PEOPLE, BOTH GOVERNMENT AND NON-GOVERNMENT, WE COULD NOW SAY THAT WE WERE CONTAINING OUR OVERALL DRUG PROBLEM AND MAKING CONSIDERABLE INROADS INTO THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN DRUG-TAKING.
+BUT OUR PRIDE AND SATISFACTION IN THESE ACHIEVEMENTS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO MAKE US COMPLACENT THERE WILL BE A CONTINUING NEED NOT MERELY TO MAINTAIN OUR EFFORTS AGAINST DRUG-TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE BUT TO ENHANCE THEM IN ALL FIELDS LAW ENFORCEMENT, TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION, PREVENTIVE EDUCATION, COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND INTERNATIONAL ACTION, HE SAID.
HONG KONG WAS A FAST DEVELOPING SOCIETY AND ALL OF US WERE CAUGHT-UP IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGE.
+HERE IN YUEN LONG WE SEE OLD BUILDINGS PULLED DOWN AND VILLAGERS RESETTLED TO MAKE WAY FOR SUCH LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENTS AS FAIRVIEW PARK AND THE SHUI BIN WAI ESTATE, ALL LEADING TO LARGE MIGRATION OF URBAN DWELLERS TO THE DISTRICT.
+ALONG WITH, AND IN MANY CASES BECAUSE OF, THESE FAST-PACED DEVELOPMENTS WE ALSO FACE PRESSURES TO ADAPT OUR TRADITIONS, ATTITUDES AND OLD HABITS TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES.
+MOST OF US HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ADJUST TO THESE STRAINS, BUT THERE ARE THOSE UNFORTUNATE ONES WHO FIND THE PACE OF LIFE AND ITS PROBLEMS TOO MUCH. SOME OF THEM TURN TO DRUGS AS AN ESCAPE FROM THE FRUSTRATIONS OF THEIR LIVES.+
MR AKERS-JONES SAID THE PREVENTION OF DRUG ABUSE COULD NOT BE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. THE WHOLE COMMUNITY HAD TO PLAY ITS PART.
/SINCE 1973 .....