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Members of the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) noted in their quarterly meeting today (March 27) that the local drug situation continued to show a declining trend in 2013, with a significant drop in the number of young drug abusers.
According to the latest figures of the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CRDA), the total number of reported drug abusers in 2013 decreased by 9 per cent (from 11 097 to 10 069) when compared to 2012. There was also a 15 per cent drop (from 2 944 to 2 497) in the number of newly reported drug abusers.
Among them, the decline in the number of young drug abusers was even more obvious when compared with last year. The total number of reported drug abusers aged under 21 and the number of newly reported drug abusers aged under 21 in 2013 decreased by 27 per cent (from 1 623 to 1 182) and 30 per cent (from 1 020 to 711) respectively.
The latest figures of the CRDA also saw a continued increase in the median time of abusing drugs by newly reported abusers (i.e. the time for abusers to be discovered by the CRDA reporting agencies from their first drug abuse), with an increase from 4.1 years in 2012 to 4.6 years in 2013.
The ACAN Chairman, Professor Daniel Shek, said that although the local drug situation had been easing, the increasingly hidden drug abuse and the lengthening in drug history of drug abusers were a cause for concern.
Professor Shek said, "Prolonged drug abuse can cause irreversible bodily harm. Therefore, early identification of drug abusers and rendering them appropriate assistance is particularly important. The aim of the public consultation on the RESCUE Drug Testing Scheme (RDT) launched by ACAN earlier is to have an additional means to identify drug abusers early and to refer them to counselling and treatment in a timely manner.
"The public consultation of the RDT has ended and the committee has received more than 2 500 written submissions. Although people have different views, there is a common understanding that early identification of drug abusers is necessary. We are now analysing the views collected. We hope to put forward recommendations on the way forward for the Government's consideration within this year."
Professor Shek reiterated that ACAN maintained an open mind on RDT and did not have any preconceived ideas. Public consensus would be a prerequisite for pursuing the scheme.
The Commissioner for Narcotics, Mrs Erika Hui, stressed that the Government would not slacken its anti-drug efforts despite the continuous decline in the number of drug abusers in Hong Kong. She said that the Administration would continue its five-pronged strategy, namely preventive education and publicity, treatment and rehabilitation, legislation and law enforcement, external co-operation and research, to tackle drug problems in a holistic manner.
Mrs Hui said, "Addressing the problem of the increasingly hidden nature of drug abuse, the Government will continue to enhance its publicity efforts to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of drugs, and to encourage people with drug problems to seek help early. In view of the increasing popularity of the use of instant messaging among young people, we will soon be launching an additional feature of WhatsApp and WeChat to allow instant messaging for the 186 186 anti-drug hotline service. This aims to provide another means to enable people in need to seek help in a way that is convenient to them."
Members also reviewed other drug-related figures for 2013 at the meeting.
In 2013, the number of reported psychotropic substance abusers continued to be higher than the number of abusers taking narcotic analgesics. There was a drop in both the number of abusers of psychotropic substances (from 6 634 to 6 137) and narcotic analgesics (from 5 853 to 5 115).
Among all reported drug abusers, heroin remained the most common type of drug abused. However, there was a decline of 13 per cent (from 5 847 to 5 113) in the number of reported heroin abusers compared to 2012.
Ketamine remained the most common type of psychotropic substance abused. The number of ketamine abusers dropped by 15 per cent (from 3 301 to 2 814) compared to last year.
Except for increases of 8 per cent and 1 per cent respectively in the number of abusers of methamphetamine ("ice") and cocaine, the number of abusers of other types of psychotropic substances dropped: nimetazepam (72 per cent lower), ecstasy (28 per cent lower), cough medicine (17 per cent lower), cannabis (15 per cent lower) and triazolam/midazolam/zopiclone (11 per cent lower).
Ends/Thursday, March 27, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:22
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