WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1935
37
SOCIAL WORKERS' ROLE IN DRUG FIGHT STRESSED
*****
THE CONTACT BY OUTREACH SOCIAL WORKERS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK WAS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN COMBATING THE PROBLEM OF DRUG ABUSE IN HONG KONG, THE COMMISSIONER OF NARCOTICS, MR GORDON MORTIMER, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
HE POINTED OUT THAT STATISTICS INDICATED THAT YOUNG PEOPLE WERE MOST AT RISK TO THE DANGERS OF DRUG ABUSE AFTER THEY HAD LEFT SCHOOL.
SPEAKING AT A SEMINAR FOR OUTREACH SOCIAL WORKERS, MR MORTIMER APPEALED TO THEM TO HELP REDUCE THE DEMAND FOR ILLICIT DRUGS BY PROTECTING YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK, ASSISTING FAMILIES WITH DRUG PROBLEMS AND PERSUADING ADDICTS TO SEEK TREATMENT.
BY REDUCING DEMAND THIS WAY AND BY THE ACTION OF THE POLICE AND CUSTOMS IN REDUCING SUPPLY, SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS COULD BE MADE AGAINST DRUG ABUSE IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.
MR MORTIMER NOTED THAT IN 1984, THERE WAS A 14,8 PER CENT REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE OF ALL AGES NEWLY REPORTED AS DRUG ABUSERS COMPARED WITH 1983 FIGURES, AND A 21 PER CENT REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 21.
+HOWEVER, HE ADDED, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR COMPLACENCY.+
MR MORTIMER SAID THAT HEROIN ADDICTION CONTINUED TO BE A SERIOUS SOCIAL PROBLEM.
+ THE ABUSE OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS, WHICH CAN BE JUST AS HARMFUL AS HEROIN, IS NOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN HONG KONG ACCORDING TO PRESENT INDICATIONS, HE SAID.
THERE WAS NO PERCEPTIBLE DRUG-RELATED DETERIORATION IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOLS AND THERE WAS NO UPSURGE IN ABSENTEEISM AT SCHOOLS OR IN THE WORK PLACE.
HE SAID IT WAS, HOWEVER, NOT POSSIBLE TO ESTIMATE HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT BE ABUSING THESE DRUGS ON AN OCCASIONAL OR CASUAL BASIS AND WHO HAD NOT YET FELT IN NEED OF MEDICAL TREATMENT.
THE NARCOTICS DIVISION CONTINUED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CAREFULLY THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF REPORTS TO THE CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DRUG ABUSE (CRDA), THROUGH SPECIAL SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY CERTAIN REPORTING AGENCIES, AND THROUGH THE SEIZURES OF ILLICIT PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS.
/THE SEMINAR,