BACKGROUND NOTE
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NARCOTICS
1.
There are estimated to be about 100,000 addicts in Hong Kong. In 1972 the Hong Kong Government appointed a Commissioner for Narcotics to deal with the problem. Recommendations by the Narcotics Commissioner for new measures to intensify the drive against drug addiction were embodied in a White Paper published in March 1974. The Royal Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau in Hong Kong has also been reconstructed and its priorities reassessed. There is close liaison between the Hong Kong Government, the FCC and the Home Office about action in the international field against the illicit traffic in drugs to Hong Kong from the "Golden Triangle' area. Wider cooperation is being fostered through a series of annual tripartite meetings with the US and Hong Kong, the third of which was held earlier this month (June 1975). There is also close cooperation with the UN, Interpol and other countries in the region. A Hong Kong police officer was posted to the British Embassy in Bangkok in November 1973 for the purpose of improving the flow of information from the "Golden Triangle" - and this has proved successful. Another Hong Kong police officer has been attached to Interpol Headquarters in Paris as a Far Eastern Liaison Officer. Finally, Hong Kong has recently approved a contribution, in its own right, of HK$100,000 to the UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control.
2.
There
These measures are now beginning to show results. have been several recent seizures of large drug consignments and several drug syndicates in Hong Kong have been broken up or disrupted. The Hong Kong Government has plans to increase drug treatment and rehabilitation services and by 1980 they hope to be able to treat about 35,000 addicts a year.
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department 24 June 1975
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