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A survey commissioned by the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) and the Narcotics Division (ND) of the Security Bureau has revealed a significant fall in the rate of drug abuse among students compared with figures taken in 2000.
"The Survey of Drug Use among Students" covered all secondary level students in ordinary day schools, international schools, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education with more than 95,000 questionnaires collected.
The survey, which is done every four years, was conducted with the aim of understanding the latest drug abuse situation among teenage students. Another important objective is to find out the factors which protect non-drug-taking students who form the majority. The questionnaire was designed to get information on value, attitude, characteristics and self-perception of students, whether they consume drugs or not, and see whether there is correlation between demographic characteristics, family relationship, personal attitudes and drug-taking behaviour. The findings will enable the ACAN, the ND, as well as anti-drug organisations to map out effective and targeted anti-drug strategies and plans in future.
ACAN Chairman, Dr Choi Yuen-wan, said it was very encouraging to learn from the survey that the number of students who had taken drugs, namely heroin and psychotropic substances, had dropped remarkably.
"The drop from 0.9% (heroin) and 2.1% (psychotropic drugs) in 2000 to 0.3% and 0.7% in 2004 among those who claimed they had used drugs in the 30 days prior to answering the questionnaire is a good sign. Similar patterns were noted for students who claimed they had ever taken drugs," he said.
The most common psychotropic substances of abuse were ketamine (53.2%), cannabis (50.7%), ecstasy (46.5%) and cough medicine (20.6%).
"We must bear in mind that the vast majority (about 97%) of secondary level students have never used drugs. Even though a very small percentage have been offered drugs (1.9% had been offered heroin and 3.1% had been offered psychotropic substance), nearly 60% refused the drug directly and about 15% used excuses to turn down the offer," Dr Choi said.
"The fact that they refused the temptation because of strong will and fear of the consequences of trying drugs indicated that our anti-drug educational efforts have reaped results," he said.
Dr Choi noted that a great majority of students, even those taking drugs, did not approve of drug taking.
However, it was found that drug-taking students had lower confidence in solving problems and dealing efficiently with unexpected events.
Commenting on the survey findings, the Commissioner for Narcotics, Mrs Rosanna Ure, said it was important to equip not only students but also parents with drug knowledge and skills so they knew how to help their children.
Apart from friends, many young people would turn to their parents for advice and help. Moreover, non-drug-taking students tended to have better relationship with their parents.
"Parents should play a very important role in educating their children in order to instil correct value and attitude towards drugs at an early age. Parents should be alert to the behaviour of their children and take action should they detect unusual patterns.
"To this end, the Narcotics Division will work closely with non-government organisations (NGOs) to equip parents with appropriate attitude, knowledge and skills to protect their children from drugs.
"It is essential to strengthen the protective factors - harmonious parent-child relationship, alertness to the harms of different kinds of drugs, positive self-image, and positive peer influence.
"In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the message of help-seeking among drug-taking youths," Mrs Ure added.
She also noted that more effort would be needed to fine-tune the education programmes and messages to target the respective risk and protective factors of different groups.
"It is worthwhile to introduce normative education in school talks, to refute the common misconception that 'everyone takes drugs' and nurture students with the concept of refusing drug offers without feeling that they are losing face," she stressed.
The survey findings indicated that students mostly preferred ex-drug abusers, tv/movie stars or pop singers and medical professionals to deliver drug information.
"When we plan our preventive education and publicity programmes in future, we will adopt a balanced approach. We will also encourage schools and NGOs to consider utilising the Internet to disseminate messages and information on anti-drug themes," she said.
Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Issued at HKT 17:06
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