ENG-1991 — Page 192

HEALTH

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Testing of air, water and waste samples for pollutants, undertaken mainly on behalf of the Environmental Protection Department, continued to be carried out during the year. In addition, the laboratory has recently taken up the microbiological testing of sewage discharges.

Measurements of industrial emissions and the monitoring of workplace atmospheres for hazardous chemicals were carried out. The analysis of asbestos continued to be an important area of interest.

Analytical and advisory services were provided in relation to the storage, carriage, and the classification of dangerous goods. In addition, a 24-hour service was provided to assist the on-site emergency services at scenes of incidents involving hazardous chemicals, or toxic gases in confined spaces.

Other aspects of work included the examination of dutiable commodities for tax assessment purposes, the provision of advisory services in relation to the enforcement of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, the testing of government purchases for conformity with approved specifications, and the provision of a urinary testing service for the methadone treatment programme for treatment of drug abusers.

To carry out this wide range of work, the Government Laboratory is equipped with much of the latest and advanced analytical equipment. Much of the routine analytical work is carried out using automated equipment.

Drug Abuse and Trafficking

The government's policy is to stop the illicit trafficking of drugs into and through Hong Kong, to develop a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation programme for drug addicts and to dissuade people, particularly young people, from experimenting with drugs, so as to eradicate drug abuse from the community.

The exact number of addicts is not known. However, the government's computerised Central Registry of Drug Abuse and other linked indicators suggest that at the end of 1991 there were about 41 000 'active' addicts, which was 0.8 per cent of the population aged 11 and above.

Data collected by the registry, based on 469 000 reports on 67 000 persons, indicate that 90 per cent of drug abusers are male and 10 per cent female. Sixty-nine per cent of the 'active' addicts were over 30 years old at the end of 1991, 25 per cent were in the 21 to 30 bracket and six per cent were aged under 21. The most common drug of abuse is heroin, which was used by 94 per cent of the persons reported to the registry in 1991. In the case of young persons, the common drugs of abuse included heroin, cannabis and certain cough medicines.

The results of the survey conducted at the end of 1990 on the non-medical use of psychotropic substances among students of secondary schools and technical institutes revealed that 2.1 per cent of the students in Chinese-speaking schools and 5.3 per cent of the students in international schools had abused psychotropic substances. The abuse rates for students enrolled in the full-time and part-time day courses of technical institutes were 2.5 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively. The survey indicated that a greater proportion of students had abused psychotropic substances in 1990 than 1987. However, it also revealed that a vast majority of students surveyed disapproved of the non-medical use of drugs, and that most of the students had already stopped abusing the substances at the time of the survey.