HONG KONG 2005

The Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau is tasked with coordinating policies and measures to reduce both the supply of and the demand for illicit drugs, and tackling problems caused by drug abuse. It is also committed to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Government adopts a five-pronged approach to combating drug trafficking and abuse which covers legislation and law enforcement, preventive education and publicity, treatment and rehabilitation, research and international cooperation.

The Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) backs up the Government in the battle against drugs. It is a non-statutory body composed of experts in social, community and other areas of anti-drug work which advises on anti-drug policies and activities. Headed by a chairman, it has 16 unofficial members, two government officials including the Commissioner for Narcotics, and a representative from the Department of Health. Under an arrangement of reciprocal appointments to advisory committees between the Singapore and Hong Kong Governments, the Director of Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau is also invited to sit on the committee.

Regular reviews are conducted to bring in suitable amendments or revision to the existing ordinances to cope with changes in the latest drug situation.

Hong Kong provides a variety of treatment and rehabilitation services to cater to the needs of drug abusers from different backgrounds.

The major drug treatment and rehabilitation services include a compulsory drug treatment programme operated by the Correctional Services Department, a voluntary methadone out-patient treatment programme provided by the Department of Health, and voluntary residential programmes run by NGOs including Christian therapeutic drug treatment centres. Medical and psychiatric treatment for psychotropic substance abusers is provided by five substance abuse clinics under the Hospital Authority. In addition, five Counselling Centres for Psychotropic Substance Abusers operated by NGOs are subvented by the Social Welfare Department to provide community-based treatment services to psychotropic substances abusers and support services to families.

Centres offering voluntary residential treatment to four or more people are licensed by the Social Welfare Department to ensure that the centres are in line with present-day safety and management requirements under the Drug Dependent Persons Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres (Licensing) Ordinance. By the end of the year, 31 Certificates of Exemption were issued to centres operating before the ordinance came into effect, and nine centres were operating with a valid licence.

A task force of government and NGOs representatives was formed as recommended by the Three-Year Plan on Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (2003-05). The new body will run a pilot service information system to provide data for drawing up a framework of standards for reference by local drug treatment services in the future. Arrangements are being made to test run the system next year.

Also following a recommendation in the 2003-05 plan, the Narcotics Division, with advice from a working group of academics and experienced service workers in the field, commissioned the School of Continuing Education of Baptist University Hong Kong to provide the first-ever structured professional certificate course for anti-drug social workers and peer-counsellors. The course will be launched in the first quarter of 2006.

A revised version of the Protocol of Screening and Assessment of Polydrug Abusers was published in December. The protocol equips frontline anti-drug workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with psychotropic substance abuse problems and give early assessments so that clients with poly-drug abuse problems can be referred to suitable services.

The Narcotics Division adopted a multi-faceted approach to publicising the anti-drug message during the year. The division continued to provide programmes for students at Primary 5 and 6 levels and students at English Schools Foundation and international schools. In total, the division presented 662 educational talks on drugs to 84 576 students. Talks and seminars about drugs were also organised for 6 765 teachers, social workers and members of youth groups. The division also ensured that anti-drug educational activities offered by various government departments and NGOs to secondary school students carried the right message and the most current findings and trends.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre (DIC), the first-ever exhibition centre dedicated to drug education in Hong Kong, continued to serve as a platform for promoting the anti-drug message to the public. Apart from the provision of tailor-made education programmes for major target groups including students, youths and parents, training sessions for school principals, teachers and social workers were also held at DIC. During the year, 34 746 visitors have made use of the centre which organised 443 education programmes for 15 281 students, 7 947 members of youth groups, community organisations, and rehabilitation centres. Nine workshops were conducted for more than 250 principals, teachers and social workers of primary and secondary schools.

Youngsters continued to be the primary target of the division's intensive anti-drug publicity initiatives. A nine-month programme, jointly organised with Commercial Radio 2, was launched in April. Young participants learnt about the damage caused by drugs by visiting DIC and meeting rehabilitated drug abusers face-to-face. They also entered their creative work, such as short films, pop songs, posters and T-shirts with anti-drug messages, in a contest and the winning entries were displayed at DIC. Radio interviews with young participants were broadcast to alert their peers to how damaging drugs can be.

To further drive home the message that drugs damage health, a series of four three-minute films focusing on the harm drugs can do were produced and shown on buses in August and later the Narcotics Division's website (www.nd.gov.hk). A new booklet Understanding Drug Abuse Problem and a new leaflet Drug Abuse is Dangerous targeting parents, teachers and youngsters were also published.

TV and radio Announcements in the Public Interest (APIs) and posters with a new theme, 'Drugs Screw Up Your Life' were produced during the year. The new APIs targeted at young working adults, with special emphasis on the physical and physio-biological damage drug abuse can cause. There was also extra publicity during festive seasons and summer holidays. In addition to advertisements on electronic media and public transport, Short Messaging System (SMS) messages were sent to young mobile phone users aged 15 to 25 with the help of mobile phone network providers to remind youngsters not to take drugs while enjoying their holidays.

The statistics compiled on drug abuse trends are based on the Central Registry of Drug Abuse. The registry collates information on drug abusers through a wide network of reporting agencies, including law enforcement departments, treatment and welfare agencies, hospitals and clinics. The computer system for the registry was overhauled during the year and a redeveloped system was introduced in April, which enabled drug abuse data to be collated and analysed more efficiently. Electronic data submission and online statistics enquiry functions were made available on the Narcotics Division webpage. To further improve the coverage of the registry, the number of reporting agencies was also expanded from 34 to 67 with effect from May.

In 2005, 14 087 drug abusers were reported to the registry. Of these, 26 per cent were newly reported cases, 16 per cent were aged under 21, and 81 per cent were males. Heroin remained the most commonly abused drug in Hong Kong, with 70 per cent of drug abusers reported to the registry being heroin abusers. The proportion of psychotropic substance abusers has increased noticeably over the years, rising from 37 per cent in 2001 to 45 per cent in 2005. In 2005, psychotropic substances commonly abused included ketamine (15 per cent), triazolam/midazolam/zopiclone (15 per cent), ecstasy (12 per cent) and cannabis (8 per cent). About 29 per cent of drug abusers were reported to have abused more than one drug.

Findings from drug-related research studies provide useful reference materials to facilitate the Government's formulation of anti-drug strategies and programmes. During the year, two studies carried forward from previous years — one on cognitive impairment and other harmful effects caused by ketamine abuse and the other a 2004 survey of drug use among students — were completed during the year.

The ketamine study provided solid evidence of the drug's harmful effects which included dependence potential, neurocognitive impairment and psychiatric morbidity. The 2004 survey of students concluded that very few secondary level students either took drugs or were exposed to drugs in Hong Kong. There had also been a significant drop in the number of drug-taking students. The proportion of students who had ever abused heroin decreased from 2.6 per cent in 2000 to 1.6 per cent in 2004, while the proportion abusing psychotropic substances fell from 4.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent. The study found that there were significant differences between drug-taking and non-drug-taking students as regards their relationship with family members, attitudes towards drug abuse and self-perception.

There were also two ongoing studies, one focused on the harmful effects of cough mixture abuse and the other on the drug abuse situation among ethnic minorities, which were carried over from the previous year.

The Government continued to participate actively in international forums against drug abuse, drug trafficking and money laundering. Apart from fulfilling its obligations under the three major United Nations conventions concerning narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, it also maintains close links with the UN, the World Health Organisation, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), the World Customs Organisation and other governments, to ensure that Hong Kong's anti-drug and anti-money laundering work remains in step with current international standards and requirements.

With the emergence of new substances, rapid changes in drug abuse patterns and related crime scenes, it is apparent that the problem of drug abuse and trafficking cannot be tackled purely by drawing upon domestic knowledge and expertise. The Narcotics Division and ACAN jointly organised an international conference on tackling drug abuse in February with the theme, 'recent advances in anti-substance abuse initiatives in the global context'.

In March, representatives from the Narcotics Division, the Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department attended the 48th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, held in Vienna, as members of the Chinese delegation.

In response to the big increase in traffic and passenger flows between the Mainland and Hong Kong in recent years, the Narcotics Division has developed close ties with the Guangdong Narcotics Control Commission on matters relating to anti-drug policies and strategies. The Police Force and Customs and Excise Department have also established cooperative mechanisms with their Mainland counterparts and now exchange information and intelligence, assist each other in investigations, mount joint operations and hold experience-sharing seminars.

The Government also keeps in touch with jurisdictions in the region. Representatives of the Narcotics Division and the Police Force attended the second international congress of the ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD) in October to share Hong Kong's experience with other governments and foster closer working relationship with anti-drug counterparts.

To promote community efforts to beat drugs, the Government established the Beat Drugs Fund in 1996 with a capital outlay of $350 million. In 2005, a total of $7.67 million was allocated to 20 projects. Apart from education and publicity projects, schemes relating to treatment and rehabilitation and research work were also sponsored such as a project aiming to enhance anti-drug awareness among South Asian ethnic minority groups. Two drug treatment and rehabilitation centres also received funding to improve the condition of the centres. A research study on the standard of the trials conducted on acupuncture used as therapy for heroin addicts was also allotted funds.

In 2005, there were 135 individual and 91 corporate volunteers in the Anti-drug Volunteer Group. Individual volunteers participated in 11 anti-drug community and publicity activities, including district carnivals, visits to treatment and rehabilitation centres, exhibitions and seminars. Apart from participating in outreach anti-drug activities, volunteers also served as helpers at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre.

To fulfil its international obligations under the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Hong Kong enacted the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance in 1989 and the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance in 1994 which provide for the tracing, freezing, confiscation and recovery of the proceeds of drug trafficking and other serious crimes.

Since the enactment of these ordinances, assets valued at $409 million have been confiscated and paid to the Government. As at December 31, 2005, assets amounting to $109 million had been ordered to be confiscated and were pending recovery. A further $1.37 billion was restrained pending confiscation proceedings under these two ordinances.

As an international financial centre, it is important for Hong Kong to maintain an effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime. Hong Kong is committed to cooperating closely with international organisations and individual governments, both on a multilateral and bilateral basis, to maintain the effectiveness of the global campaign. Hong Kong is a member of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) as well as a founding member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).

In addition to taking part in the APG annual meeting, the Narcotics Division and other departments played an active role in the APG's typologies exercise, including providing speakers and participating in its annual typologies workshop in Fiji in October. Hong Kong took part in the APG mutual evaluation of India in March and continued to serve as a member of its steering group — an advisory body which sets the direction and priority of the work of the APG — until July.

At the international level, Hong Kong participated in the FATF's mutual evaluation of Ireland in June. In August, Hong Kong joined the newly formed FATF Typologies Project Teams investigating 'new payment methods' and 'misuse of corporate vehicles'. The project teams will work with relevant bodies and organisations of various jurisdictions to examine the potential misuse of these vehicles for money laundering and terrorist financing. In October, Hong Kong also joined the newly formed FATF/APG project group on corruption to explore the link between corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.

During the year, work started on putting in place, through administrative and legislative means, the revised FATF Recommendations to reinforce the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime of Hong Kong. It is expected that the implementation will take two to three years to complete. To tie in with the exercise, Hong Kong hosted an international conference in February to promote international and regional exchange and cooperation on anti-money laundering issues. More than 500 delegates, professionals and practitioners from overseas, the Mainland and the local business sector and related fields participated in the event which was opened by the Financial Secretary.

Hong Kong also contributed to FATF's Working Group on Terrorist Financing (renamed the Working Group on Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering in October), which is responsible for drawing up guidance and interpretative notes for implementing nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing. In addition, Hong Kong played an active role in another working group of the FATF, namely, Working Group on Evaluations and Implementation, which keeps a close watch on the mutual evaluation programme of the FATF and discusses issues which emerge from the evaluation exercise.

In the context of the FATF Non-cooperative Countries and Territories exercises, Hong Kong has been acting as the principal contact in the review exercise on Indonesia since 2000. As the primary reviewer of Indonesia, Hong Kong took the lead in coordinating the Asia/Pacific Review Group's on-site visit to Indonesia in January in order to examine its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime. Indonesia was subsequently removed from the non-cooperative list at the FATF February 2006 plenary.

To combat trans-national crimes effectively, Hong Kong continued to support mutual assistance between jurisdictions. By year-end, it had entered into 19 agreements and signed 14 bilateral agreements with other jurisdictions on the surrender of fugitive offenders.