XN000022-1979-11-18 — Page 2

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1979

SIR JACK OPENS TSUEN WAN ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN

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THE GOVERNMENT'S OBJECTIVES IN THE ANTI-NARCOTICS FIELD ARE CLEAR AND UNEQUIVOCAL TO STOP THE IMPORT OF ILLICIT DRUGS AND TO ELIMINATE DRUG ABUSE FROM THE COMMUNITY, THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR JACK CATER, SAID TODAY(SUNDAY).

SPEAKING AT THE OPENING OF THE TSUEN WAN ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN, SIR JACK SAID SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THIS LONG BATTLE IS BEING MADE, THROUGH THE DEDICATED EFFORTS OF THOSE INVOLVED, AT THE OFFICIAL, UNOFFICIAL AND COMMUNITY LEVELS.

+BUT AN ENORMOUS TASK STILL LIES AHEAD WE STILL HAVE BETWEEN 35 000 AND 50 000 ADDICTS- THIS IS, THEREFORE, NO TIME TO RELAX OUR ENDEAVOURS, HE SAID.

SIR JACK SAID DRUG ABUSE HAS BEEN A MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEM IN HONG KONG FOR MANY YEARS. IT IS NOT ONLY DESTRUCTIVE TO THE ADDICT HIMSELF, BUT IS OF ENORMOUS POTENTIAL DANGER TO HIS FAMILY AND TO THE COMMUNITY OF WHICH HE IS PART.

+WE RECOGNISED THIS THREAT MANY YEARS AGO, AND HAVE TAKEN ENERGETIC ACTION TO DEAL WITH IT, THROUGH CAREFULLY COORDINATED PROGRAMMES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION PREVENTIVE EDUCATION AND PUBLICITY, AND INTERNATIONAL ACTION,+ HE SAID.

+THE SUCCESS OF OUR EFFORTS, ACHIEVED AFTER UNREMITTING WORK AND THE EXPENDITURE OF CONSIDERABLE RESOURCES, IS EVIDENCED TODAY BY THE RECORD PRICES OF DRUGS ON THE STREETS, THE VERY LARGE NUMBERS OF ADDICTS IN TREATMENT, REHABILITATION AND AFTERCARE, THE DECLINING INVOLVEMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE DRUG SCENE, AND THE GREATLY REDUCED NUMBER OF THOSE CONVICTED OF MINOR DRUG OFFENCES.

HOWEVER, SIR JACK SAID, IN A WORLD IN WHICH DRUG ABUSE IS INCREASING DRAMATICALLY AND IS PRODUCING ENORMOUS PROFITS FOR THE TRAFFICKERS, THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT AFFORD TO RELAX ITS EFFORTS IN ANY WAY.

ALSO, THE SUPPORT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT, HE STRESSED.

+IT IS JUST AS MUCH FOR THEIR BENEFIT THAT WE STRIVE, AS FOR THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY ADDICTED TO DRUGS, OR FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT RISK OF BEING ENTICED INTO ADDICTION, HE SAID,

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SIR JACK ALSO NOTED THAT AS A RESULT OF THE STRENUOUS AND DEVOTED EFFORTS BY A GREAT MANY PEOPLE WORKING IN ANTI-DRUG COMPAIGNS, THERE IS SOLID EVIDENCE THAT THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ARE NOW MORE ACUTELY AWARE OF THE PROBLEMS AND DANGERS OF DRUG ABUSES, AND BETTER INFORMED ABOUT THEM, THAN EVER BEFORE.

ALSO ATTENDING THE OPENING CEREMONY TODAY WERE THE COMMISSIONER FOR NARCOTICS, MR. PETER LEE- THE TSUEN WAN TOWN MANAGER, MR. JAMES HAYES THE CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN. MR. HO CHI-PING AND THE CHAIRMAN OF ACAN'S PREVENTIVE EDUCATION AND PUBLICITY SUB-COMMITTEE, MR. KARL STUMPF.

/AFTER THE