FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1980
HK NARCOTICS REPORT 1979 PUBLISHED
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HIGH ILLICIT DRUG PRICES AND LARGE NUMBERS OF ADDICTS SEEKING TREATMENT IN 1979 MARKED ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN HONG KONG'S ON-GOING FIGHT AGAINST NARCOTIC ABUSE AND TRAFFICKING.
THIS WAS INDICATED IN THE HONG KONG NARCOTICS REPORT 1979 PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS.
SINCE MID-1979, LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESSURES, TOGETHER WITH THE OPIUM CROP FAILURE IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, HAD CAUSED A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF ILLICIT NARCOTIC SUPPLY IN HONG KONG.
THE EFFECTS OF THIS SCARCITY, THE REPORT SAID, WERE REFLECTED IN AUGUST IN THE RISE OF ILLICIT DRUG PRICES BY MORE THAN 400 PER CENT, WHILE THE PURITY OF NO. 3 HEROIN DROPPED TO A LOW OF 15 PER CENT.
ALSO FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE AND THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE FORMED A JOINT INTELLIGENCE UNIT AT KAI TAK AIRPORT IN JULY TO PREVENT DRUG IMPORT AND TRAFFICKING,
THE REPORT ALSO REVEALED THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF ADDICTS WERE INDUCED TO SEEK TREATMENT AS A RESULT OF THE CONTINUOUS SHORTAGE OF ILLICIT DRUGS AND THE PERSISTENT HIGH PRICES AT STREET LEVEL.
BY THE END OF THE YEAR, 9 294 PATIENTS WERE REGISTERED FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S METHADONE TREATMENT WITH 7 270 ATTENDING DAILY, GIVING AN ATTENDANCE RATE OF 78 PER CENT, AS COMPARED WITH 7 700, 5 400 AND 70 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY DURING THE SAME PERIOD IN 1978.
ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN 1979 WAS THE SHARP DROP IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE CONVICTED OF MINOR DRUG OFFENCES IN THE COURTS FROM A HIGH OF 17 700 IN 1973 TO 3 600.
THE NUMBER OF ADDICTS IN PRISONS PROPER HAD ALSO DECLINED DRAMATICALLY SINCE 1976, AND 23 PER CENT OF THE 33 000 DRUG ABUSERS RECORDED IN THE CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DRUG ADDICTS HAD NOT BEEN REPORTED AGAIN FROM ANY SOURCE FOR OVER THREE YEARS.
SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS SAID IN THE FOREWORD TO THE REPORT +WHILST ALL SUCH NEWS MUST BE A SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRIDE, WE HAVE NO ILLUSIONS THAT OUR EFFORTS CAN BE RELAXED IN ANY WAY.
+SO LONG AS THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE REMAINS SO ENORMOUSLY PROFITABLE, IT WILL REMAIN ATTRACTIVE TO THE CRIMINALS WHO EXPLOIT IT, AND SO LONG AS WE HAVE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ADDICTS IN OUR MIDST, THEY WILL REMAIN, UNHAPPILY, A RESERVOIR OF POSSIBLE INFECTION TO OUR YOUNG.
+SO MY MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY, AND TO ALL WHO ARE PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE IS FAR WE HAVE DONE EXCEEDINGLY WELL, BUT MUCH MORE EFFORT IS REQUIRED.+
SO
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