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APPENDIX 'B'
of obesity. Some experts hold the view that the prescription of
amphetamines is justified only for the treatment of narcolepsy a very rare disease involving fits of involuntary somnolence. In contrast with the limited medicinal use for amphetamines there is
a large scale illicit traffic and abuse of these drugs in certain
countries. The most harmful form of amphetamine abuse is the
intravenous injection of an excessive dose, often referred to as 'getting high on speed'. Fortunately there is little amphetamine
abuse in Hong Kong so far as can be ascertained; few cases have come to the notice of the police. In view of the restricted therapeutic application for amphetamines in the Colony, consider- ation is now being given in the Deterrents Sub-Committee of the Action Committee against Narcotics (A.C.A.N.) to including these
drugs in Part I of the First Schedule of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, or in a new ordinance to be designed specially to control the man made drugs which are the subject of abuse here.
No case can be made out to legalise amphetamine consumption for
pleasure in Hong Kong.
12.
While there would appear to be little abuse of amphetamines in the Colony, the same cannot be said for the barbiturates. The latter have been used in medicine for half
a century and in a number of countries account for about 10 per cent of the prescriptions given by doctors, mostly as sedatives and for insomnia. It will be apparent, therefore, that unlike the amphetamines there is a distinct therapeutic value attached to these drugs and that they are dispensed extensively by doctors and across the counter in pharmacies as patent medicines. This applies in Hong Kong as much as anywhere else. Mainly on account of their ready availability in shops selling medicines, it is believed that the abuse of barbiturate drugs in the Colony is quite widespread, particularly amongst certain classes of women. On the one hand there are the hypochondriacs who, in very general terms, tend to be wealthy and self-indulgent with too much idle
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