· 7 -
Monitors' Report submitted to CS
The monitors appointed to observe the Orderly Repatriation Programme operation this (Tuesday) morning have submitted their report to the Chief Secretary.
The two monitors comprised a non-official Justice of the Peace, Mr So Hing- woh; and representative from a non-government organisation, Mr Liu Ping-cheung from Caritas, Hong Kong.
End
Young drug abusers down 11 per cent in third quarter
Members of the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) discussed at a meeting today (Tuesday), the drug statistics for the third quarter of 1996 compiled by the Government's Central Registry of Drug Abuse.
The figures indicated that the number of reported drug abusers under 21 decreased by 11.6 per cent to 1,263 in the third quarter of 1996 compared with 1,428 in the corresponding period in 1995.
Among them, 413 were newly reported, representing a decrease of 20.6 per cent from 520 in the same period last year.
The number of reported drug abusers under 21 was 1.47 per thousand of the young population.
ACAN members noted that though drug abuse among young persons has shown a downward trend since the beginning of 1995, the Government will continue to campaign vigorously to beat drugs.
The newly-formed Task Group on Preventive Education Strategy is to review and improve the anti-drug preventive education strategy, in particular the preventive education and publicity programmes targeted at young persons.
For reported drug abusers of all ages, the figure remains stable, with a slight increase of 0.3 per cent to 7,409 compared with 7,385 in the corresponding period in last year. However, the number of newly reported individuals decreased by 3.9 per cent from 1,095 to 1,052.