XN000022-1981-12-28 — Page 2

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1981

NARCOTICS REPORT FOR 1980 PUBLISHED

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THE OUTSTANDING ADVANCES MADE IN ALL ANTI-NARCOTICS PROGRAMMES OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS ARE REVIEWED IN THE HONG KONG NARCOTICS REPORT 1980 PUBLISHED TODAY (MONDAY) BY THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS.

THE REPORT CONTAINS AN EXTRA CHAPTER ON A DECADE OF ACHIEVEMENT 1971 - 1980+, OUTLINING THE REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE THROUGHOUT THESE YEARS THAT HAVE ATTRACTED WORLD-WIDE ATTENTION AND RECOGNITION.

SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS SAID IN HIS FOREWORD TO THE REPORT: +AS A RESULT OF THE FOUNDATIONS LAID IN 1971/72, WHICH LED TO A CO-ORDINATED ATTACK ON THE PROBLEM, AND THE ACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT OF ALL MAJOR PROGRAMMES INCLUDING THE CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DRUG ADDICTS, WE HAVE AN UNRIVALLED DATA BASE, ON WHICH REALISTIC ANTI-NARCOTICS POLICIES CAN BE FORMULATED.+

HE SAID 1980 ITSELF WAS A YEAR IN WHICH PREVIOUS ADVANCES IN ALL FIELDS WERE CONSOLIDATED, AND IN WHICH WE CONTINUED TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS, IN HIGH STREET DRUG PRICES, OF THE DROUGHT WHICH HAS AFFECTED THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.+

THE REPORT ALSO REVEALED THAT THE NUMBERS IN THE OUT-PATIENT METHADONE CLINICS WERE MAINTAINED AT A HIGH LEVEL, AND THE VOLUNTARY IN-PATIENT PROGRAMME WAS WELL PATRONISED, WHILE THE NUMBERS OF CONFIRMED ADDICTS IN PRISONS PROPER, AS WELL AS IN THE DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT CENTRES CONTINUED TO FALL.

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR WAS THE SHARP DROP IN THE PERCENTAGE OF CONFIRMED ADDICTS IN THE PRISONS FROM 70 PER CENT OF TOTAL INMATES IN 1974 TO JUST UNDER 28 PER CENT IN 1980.

SIMILARLY, THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER 21 IN THE DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT CENTRES AND IN SHEK KWU CHAU CONTINUED TO DECLINE FOR THE 10TH SUCCESSIVE YEAR.

THE REPORT CONCLUDED THAT THESE REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS HAD BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY A COMBINATION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ALLOCATION OF A HIGH PRIORITY AND ADEQUATE RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH ONE OF ITS MOST SERIOUS SOCIAL PROBLEMS- INTEGRATED AND CO-ORDINATED PROGRAMMES COVERING ALL ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM HIGH-LEVEL INVOLVEMENT IN THE FORMULATION OF POLICIES AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE DEDICATION, COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION OF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE BOTH IN AND OUT OF UNIFORM, IN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES, AND AMONGST COMMUNITY LEADERS, THAT OUR OBJECTIVE OF A DRUG-FREE SOCIETY SHALL BE REALISED.

/HOWEVER, THE