ENG-1988 — Page 188

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HEALTH

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. 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, through the exchange of information and experience, enhances the effectiveness of efforts in these three areas.

All these efforts are co-ordinated by the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN), a non-statutory body comprising a chairman, 10 government officials and 10 members from the community. 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.

Legislation and Law Enforcement

The government's determination to eradicate drug trafficking is evident in its decision to adopt measures to attack traffickers' assets. After months of preparation, law drafting and consultation with government departments and professional bodies, the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Bill was scheduled to be introduced into the Legislative Council in early 1989. The bill aims to empower the court to confiscate the proceeds of drug trafficking from a convicted drug trafficker and prevent the laundering of money derived from drug trafficking. If passed, the legislation will be a useful tool to root out the vicious cycling of money in the illicit drug trade and in other criminal activities.

Due to the unrelenting efforts of the Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department, seizures of No. 3 heroin, the major drug of abuse in Hong Kong, increased from 358 kilograms in 1987 to 570 kilograms in 1988. The upsurge in the incidence of trafficking in Mandrax from China which had started in 1986 died down in 1988 following the imposition of stringent controls by the Chinese authorities over the production and distribution of the drug in 1987. This was evidenced by the low level of seizure of the drug (10 200 tablets) in 1988 as compared with 1987 (58 699 tablets). As a result of joint operations with overseas law enforcement agencies, a number of international drug trafficking syndicates were neutralised with large quantities of firearms and ammunition seized and a number of ring leaders arrested locally and abroad. During the year, police and customs action resulted in 12 000 prosecutions for drug offences.

Treatment and Rehabilitation

The methadone treatment programme, which is operated by the Narcotics and Drug Administration of the Medical and Health Department, provides both maintenance and detoxification for out-patients. It caters for the majority of addicts who volunteer for treatment. Methadone maintenance is a long-term treatment approach intended to prevent an addict's return to illicit heroin or other forms of narcotic abuse, while detoxification is a

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