XN000022-1979-04-18 — Page 3

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1979

+THE PERIOD OF APATHY, INDIFFERENCE AND CYNICISM IS A THING OF THE PAST. THE PUBLIC HAS GRADUALLY BECOME CONVINCED OF THE GOVERNMENT'S DETERMINATION AND ABILITY TO FIGHT AND OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM,+ SIR MURRAY SAID.

+THEY REALISE THAT LIKE LITTER AND CORRUPTION AND CRIME AND MANY OTHER EVILS, DRUG ADDICTION IN OUR MIDST NEED NOT AND MUST NOT BE ACCEPTED' PROVIDED EVERYONE HELPS.+

HE SAID HE HAD NO DOUBT THAT THE SUCCESSES OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AND THE GREAT REDUCTION IN CORRUPTION HAD PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN HONG KONG'S RECENT SUCCESS AGAINST DRUGS.

+BUT THE GROWING COMMUNITY EFFORT, THE EXPANSION OF TREATMENT FACILITIES, THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR PREVENTIVE EFFORTS, AS WELL AS PROGRESS IN OTHER AREAS OF SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT SUCH AS HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND THE PROVISION OF RECREATIONAL FACILITIES HAVE ALL HELPED ENORMOUSLY.

+OUR CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DRUG ADDICTS CONFIRMS THAT ONLY THREE AND A HALF PER CENT OF OUR ADDICTS ARE BELOW THE AGE OF 20.

+IN ADDITION, THE RECORDS OF BOTH THE PRISONS DEPARTMENT AND THE SOCIETY FOR THE AID AND REHABILITATION OF DRUG ABUSERS SHOW THAT AMONG THE TOTAL ADMISSIONS TO THEIR TREATMENT CENTRES, THOSE AGED UNDER 21 AND UNDER 19 DECLINED FROM 25 PER CENT TO 3.8 PER CENT AND 12-1/2 PER CENT TO 2.7 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS,+ HE SAID.

SIR MURRAY ADDED THAT ALTHOUGH REMARKABLE PROGRESS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN THE PAST DECADE DUE TO THE DEVOTED EFFORTS OF ALL ENGAGED IN ANTI-NARCOTICS WORKS, WE CANNOT BE SATISFIED UNTIL THIS GRAVE THREAT TO THE SOCIAL WELL-BEING OF HONG KONG HAS BEEN COMPLETELY ELIMINATED.

+ THEREFORE APPEAL TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND TO ALL YOUNG PEOPLE IN HONG KONG TO ASSIST US IN PREVENTING DRUG ADDICTION AMONGST OUR NEW GENERATION.

SIR MURRAY EXPRESSED THE GOVERNMENT'S THANKS TO SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, WHO AS CHAIRMAN OF ACAN HAS LED HONG KONG'S FIGHT AGAINST NARCOTICS, AND TO ALL THOSE, BOTH IN AND OUT OF UNIFORM, OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL, WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE CURRENT SUCCESS.

SIR MURRAY WAS HET AT THE STADIUM BY SIR ALBERT, THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY, MR. LEWIS DAVIES, THE CHAIRMAN OF ACAN'S PREVENTIVE EDUCATION AND PUBLICITY SUB-COMMITTEE AND THE RALLY ORGANISING COMMITTEE, MR. KARL STUMPF, AND THE COMMISSIONER FOR NARCOTICS, MR. PETER E.. LEE.

THE TWO-HOUR ACAN MASS RALLY WAS ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 30,000 SCHOOL STUDENTS.

ITS COLOURFUL AND FAST-MOVING PROGRAMME INCLUDED TELE-MATCH+ GAMES PARTICIPATED BY 30 TEAMS COMPRISING 600 PEOPLE FROM GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES, BAND PERFORMANCES, A MOCK-BATTLE DISPLAY, LION AND RIBBON DANCES, KARATE AND TAEKWANDO DEMONSTRATIONS, A MOTORCYCLE DISPLAY AND A FREE-FALL PARACHUTE JUMPING DISPLAY.

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