TNAG-1106-FCO40-1356-Narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 22

G.S. 166

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-3.

6.

In the U.S.A., which is the only country where effective

and efficient drug addict registries are to be found, the data kept

by such registries is of particular value to law enforcement agencies in tracking down suspects, to treatment and rehabilitation centres in

tracing the addiction and treatment histories of their patients and to

researchers in substantiating their experimental studies.

There have

been numerous court cases in the United States arising from demands for access to information in addict registries of both government and voluntary agencies. These protracted judicial proceedings imposed a

heavy strain on federal resources, which could have been avoided by the

statutory provision for such records to be kept confidential. To

forestall such situations from occurring in Hong Kong, it is deemed

necessary for legislation to be enacted to protect the confidentiality

of information supplied by the addicts to the reporting agencies and

subsequently received by the Central Registry, as it is envisaged that the agencies concerned and the Central Registry will most certainly be

under pressure from various sources to disclose personal information

about the addicts for one reason or another.

7.

It is therefore proposed that such information will not be

disclosed except with the consent of the addict concerned or under other

prescribed circumstances. The maintenance of such strict confidentiality

will limit the potential uses of the Central Registry records. For

example, except in the most serious cases, the records could not be used to help the Police apprehend suspected criminals. Nevertheless, these limitations have to be accepted if the Central Registry is to exist and function effectively at all.

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Consultation

8.

The principle of confidentiality to be enshrined in the present Bill has been thoroughly examined and debated by members of the Action Committee Against Narcotics (A.C.A.N.) during the past three years.

CONFIDENTIAL

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