BACKGROUND NOTE
HONG KONG: THE ROLE OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS
1. The Action Committee Against Narcotics brings together representatives of all Government departments and voluntary agencies involved in the fight against drug abuse in Hong Kong. Its terms of reference are to advise the Governor on all policy matters relating to narcotics and to supervise and coordinate the work of the various departments and agencies involved.
2. Drugs are a major cause of social problems in Hong Kong, both directly and because of their close connection with other crimes. Previous estimates put the number of drug addicts in Hong Kong at between 80,000 and 100,000. However, the Government have just introduced a computerised Central Register of Drug Addicts which is able to give a much more accurate picture than was possible with the incomplete information that was available before. The Governor announced in his speech at the opening of this year's session of the Legislative Council that the first results from the new Register suggested that the total number of addicts may be much lower than had previously been thought possibly less than 50,000.
3. The Hong Kong Government has made encouraging progress in its efforts to eradicate drug trafficking, and in the rehabili-
tation of addicts. In 1977, about £3.5 million was spent on the treatment of addicts. In addition to the four government and three privately run (but government subsidised) drug addiction
treatment centres, there are 16 methadone detoxification clinics
and four methadone maintenance clinics. While the addiction
centres can treat about 2,200 addicts, the 20 clinics can handle about 15,000 cases at a time. No one would claim that the drug
addiction problem in Hong Kong has been solved, but the indi- cations are that the problem is at least being contained.
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