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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon James Tien on young drug abusers in the Legislative council today (July 11):
Question :
It has been reported that in the middle of last month, four schoolgirls at a secondary school in the North District in the New Territories felt unwell and were taken to hospital after taking drugs supplied by a fellow schoolmate. The principal of the school believed that its students were able to come into contact with soft drugs because the school was near the Mainland. It has also been reported that due to geographical convenience, many youngsters in the North District go north to the Mainland to take drugs and bring drugs back to Hong Kong to sell in schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of young drug abusers in the past three years, broken down by the 18 administrative districts in Hong Kong, and whether there is a trend of youngsters abusing drugs at a younger age;
(b) whether it has studied the situation of youngsters in the North District and other districts along the railway alignments abusing drugs and trafficking drugs in schools; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such a study; and
(c) whether it will further enhance the targeted measures at the school level and the co-operation with the authorities concerned on the Mainland (particularly Shenzhen), in order to combat the problem of cross-boundary drug trafficking and drug abuse?
Reply:
Madam President,
To monitor the drug abuse situation and draw up anti-drug measures, the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) and the Government all along collect and publish two sets of data about the number of drug abusers and other information, i.e. information and data from the survey of drug use among students conducted once every four years and the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CRDA). The information reveals that although the total number of abusers has been decreasing, the number of young abusers in the past two years reversed the declining trend of 2000 to 2004 and began to rise. We are very concerned about the situation and have taken various measures in response. For details of the figures and measures, please refer to the paper we provided to the Panel on Security in February this year. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, tap the views of ACAN, anti-drug workers and the public, and enhance our partnership with various sectors of the community, including schools, parents, social workers, medical workers, academia and the media, in the fight against drugs.
(a) According to the CRDA, the number of reported young drug abusers aged under 21 and the average age of drug abuse in the past three years were as follow -
2004 2005 2006 2006 2007
1st 1st
Quarter Quarter
Number of 2186 2276 2549 903 994
abusers
Average age 17 17 17 17 17
of abuse
Average age 16 15 15 15 15
of first abuse
The number of young drug abusers broken down by the 18 administrative districts is at the Annex.
The reporting network of the CRDA is extensive, covering law enforcement agencies, treatment and rehabilitation organisations, welfare agencies, tertiary institutions, hospitals, etc. As information is submitted by the reporting agencies to the CRDA voluntarily, CRDA figures do not represent the total number of abusers but they do reflect the trends of abuse.
As regards the survey of drug use among students, the last survey was conducted in 2004. Results revealed that about 3.4% (i.e. 17 300) of the secondary students had ever abused heroin or psychotropic substances in their lifetime, of which about 0.8% (i.e. 4 300) of the secondary students had abused heroin or psychotropic substances in the 30 days prior to the survey.
(b) As can be seen from the figures at Annex, currently there are no indications that the number of young drug abusers has risen more significantly in the North District and other districts along the railway than in other districts. However, we agree that when drawing up anti-drug measures, we should take into account the district situation as far as possible. We have therefore taken a series of measures to combat the youth drug abuse problem in collaboration with the District Councils, District Fight Crime Committees and district organisations:
(i) The Beat Drugs Fund has provided funding support to a research study on the drug abuse pattern of drug abuse patients of the New Territories East (including the North District) using the latest technology.
(ii) Individual districts have conducted surveys on the youth drug abuse situation, youngsters' attitude and knowledge on drugs and service needs.
(iii) Cross-sectoral meetings (including youth service organisations, schools, social workers, Police, Social Welfare Department, etc) have been held to discuss the youth drug abuse problem and map out collaboration programmes.
(iv) Workshops and focus group discussions have been organised to enable exchange of views on how to tackle the youth drug abuse problem. We have also held school talks and other preventive education and publicity activities to educate youngsters on the harmful effects of drug abuse, build up a positive and healthy lifestyle, enhance the drug knowledge of teachers and parents, heighten their awareness of signs of drug abuse, and upgrade their skills in handling drug abuse cases.
(v) Funding support has been provided to a number of organisations to run anti-drug projects at districts, including school talks and early intervention measures to help young drug abusers.
(vi) The Police have strengthened liaison with schools to collect intelligence for the provision of immediate assistance to schools and law enforcement actions.
(c) As regards the problem of cross boundary drug trafficking and drug abuse, we will spare no efforts to combat the problem on all fronts:
Cooperation with the Mainland authorities -
(i) The Administration has maintained close liaison with the Mainland authorities on formulating strategies to tackle the problems of cross-boundary drug trafficking and Hong Kong residents abusing drugs in the Mainland. We will enhance information and intelligence exchange with Mainland law enforcement agencies on cross-boundary crimes including cross-boundary drug abuse, draw up operational directions and take joint actions to interdict drug trafficking activities.
(ii) We have developed a tripartite cooperation framework with our Guangdong and Macao counterparts to promote exchanges and cooperation in anti-drug efforts among the three places. Starting from 2001, tripartite conferences or functions on tackling drug abuse and trafficking have been held regularly. Information is exchanged and experience shared on various fronts covering law enforcement, research, treatment and rehabilitation as well as preventive education.
The Police will continue to conduct education and publicity activities at the boundary crossings, and join hands with the community leaders of the District Councils and District Fight Crime Committees to distribute leaflets there about the harmful effects of drug abuse to people going to the Mainland.
At the school level -
(iii) We have launched a new drug education kit recently for teachers to disseminate anti-drug messages in schools and the consequences of cross-boundary drug abuse. The kit is designed for use by Primary four to six for the curriculum of General Studies, and Secondary one to three for Personal, Social and Humanities Education Key Learning Area.
(iv) We will organise seminars, district networking and workshops to enhance the drug knowledge of teachers and social workers, and upgrade their skills in identifying drug abusers, handling drug abuse cases in school and collaborating with non-government organisations and the Police.
(v) We will work with the Parent-Teacher Associations Federation, and will organise talks and activities to engage parents actively in drug prevention education for their children.
(vi) We have launched the "Sponsorship Scheme on Anti-Cross-boundary Drug Abuse Projects" which provides funding to 18 projects on anti-drug activities targeting young people, in schools, districts and at the boundary.
Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:46
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