ENG-1985 — Page 163

HEALTH

Narcotics

119

Drug abuse is a long-standing problem in Hong Kong with serious social, economic, legal, medical and psychological implications. The government's expressed policy is to stop the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs into Hong Kong, to develop a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation programme for drug addicts and to dissuade the people of Hong Kong, particularly young people, from experimenting with drugs so as to eradicate drug abuse in the community.

The exact number of addicts in Hong Kong is not known. However, findings from the government's computerised Central Registry of Drug Abuse and other linked indica- tors show that at the end of 1985 the size of the known and active addict population was in the region of 37 000.

Data collected by the registry, based on 290 000 reports on 53 000 individuals, indicate that 92 per cent are male and eight per cent female. As to age distribution, 73 per cent were over 30 as at the end of 1985, 22 per cent were in the 21 to 30 bracket and five per cent were under 21. The principal drug of abuse in Hong Kong is heroin, which was used by 99 per cent of the addicts reported to the registry in 1985. The remaining one per cent took other drugs. The most widely used method of taking heroin was by injection, followed by fume inhaling, commonly known as 'chasing the dragon'.

Typical addicts are adult males over 21 in the lower income group, generally employed as casual labourers or as unskilled or semi-skilled workers and living in overcrowded conditions. They have generally not more than six years of formal education and are single or, if married, usually separated from their families.

The government's overall strategy to combat drug abuse consists of four main elements: law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, preventive education and publicity, and international co-operation. Law enforcement is the responsibility of the Narcotics Bureau and individual district formations of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, and the Customs and Excise Department. Treatment and rehabilitation are undertaken by the Medical and Health Department, the Correctional Services Department and a number of voluntary agencies, the largest being the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers (SARDA) which is subvented by the government.

Preventive education and publicity rests mainly with the Narcotics Division of the Government Secretariat, the Information Services Department and various government district offices concerned with community building efforts. International co-operation is the responsibility of all.

The work undertaken in each of these four areas is inter-related. Effective law enforce- ment action pushes up the price of illicit drugs and reduces their supply, thus inducing addicts to seek treatment voluntarily. Addicts who wish to rid themselves of their drug habits are offered a wide range of treatment programmes, the effectiveness of which reduces the demand for illicit drugs. At the same time, preventive education and publicity measures are used to dissuade others, especially the young, from experimenting with drugs. Co-operation at the international level enhances the effectiveness of efforts in these three areas through the exchange of information and experience.

All these efforts are co-ordinated by the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN), a non-statutory body comprising a chairman, nine government officials and seven unofficial members. The committee, formed in 1965 and reconstituted in 1974, is the government's sole advisory body on all anti-narcotics policies and actions, whether internal or external, and whether related to government departments or voluntary agencies. It is serviced by the Narcotics Division, which is headed by the Commissioner for Narcotics.