XN000022-1976-05-04 — Page 2

ABUSE

TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1976

HONG KONG NARCOTICS REPORT PUBLISHED

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A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT ON HONG KONG'S WORK AGAINST DRUG

HONG KONG NARCOTICS REPORT 1974/75 - WAS PUBLISHED TODAY (TUESDAY).

THE REPORT, PUBLISHED BY THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS, REPLACES THE ACAN'S OLD ANNUAL REPORT WHICH WAS CONSIDERABLY NARROWER IN SCOPE.

THE REPORT NOT ONLY TAKES A DEEPER LOOK INTO THE ANTI- NARCOTICS WORK OF VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, BUT ALSO GIVES A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE WORK OF LOCAL `VOLUNTARY AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE SOCIETY FOR THE AID AND REHABILITATION OF DRUG ADDICTS AND THE DISCHARGED PRISONERS' AID SOCIETY.

+THE AIM OF THIS REPORT, SAYS SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, CHAIRMAN OF ACAN, IN HIS 'FOREWORD'

IN HIS FOREWORD, +IS TO MAKE CLEAR WHAT HONG KONG HAS BEEN DOING DURING THE PAST YEAR IN THE FOUR MAIN FIELDS OF ACTION AGAINST DRUG ABUSE, I,E., INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION, LAW ENFORCEMENT, TREATMENT ́AND REHABILITATION, AND PREVENTIVE EDUCATION AND PUBLICITY.+

+ IT IS HOPED THAT THIS REPORT WILL ENCOURAGE EVEN GREATER CO-OPERATION AND UNDERSTANDING AMONGST ALL THOSE WHO ARE SUPPORTING OUR EFFORTS TO OVERCOME WHAT IS NOW NOT ONLY ONE OF HONG KONG'S, BUT ALSO ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST SERIOUS SOCIAL AND HUMÁN PROBLEMS,+ SIR ALBERT ADDED.

THE REPORT, PUBLISHED IN COMBINED ENGLISH AND CHINESE VERSIONS, WILL BE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED TO VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, VOLUNTARY AGENCIES, UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, KAIFONG ASSOCIATIONS, UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES, FOREIGN ANTI-NARCOTICS AGENCIES OVERSEAS, AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS CONCERNED WITH THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE.

IN REVIEWING HONG KONG'S WORK AGAINST DRUG ABUSE, THE REPORT DESCRIBES THE YEAR UNDER REVIEW AS AN UNUSUALL SIGNIFICANT AND EXCITING ONE, IT MENTIONS ABOUT THE REMARKABLE SUCCESSES ACHIEVED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, THE PROGRESS MADE IN THE SPHERE OF INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION, AND THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS INITIATED IN THE FIELD OF TREATMENT AND

REHABILITATION,

ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, ACAN SPENT MOST OF THE YEAR UNDER REVIEW DEVISING A NEW BLUEPRINT TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM OF DRUG ABUSE IN HONG KONG, IT ALSO MADE COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES ON:-

(A) EXISTING TREATMENT FACILITIES - TO FIND OUT WHETHER

THEY WERE BEING USED TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE, AND WHETHER A PHASED PROGRAMME COULD BE FORMULATED TO TREAT DRUG ADDICTS EN MASSE AT A REASONABLE COST-

(B) LAWS AND PROCEDURES REQUIRED TO CONTROL FACTORY MADE

RUGS (PSYCHO-TROPIC SUBSTANCES) WHICH MAY BE ABUSED- AND

/PREVENTIVE