Hong Kong had formed a united front with the Chinese mainland and Macao authorities in combating cross-boundary drug abuse and trafficking, Hong Kong's Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Carrie Yau said on Thursday.
Yau made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the second Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Conference on Policy to Tackle Drug Abuse and Trafficking in Zhongshan, Guangdong. The conference is organized by the Guangdong Narcotics Control Commission. In view of the rapid increase in human and cargo traffic between the three places, trilateral cooperation in the fight against cross-boundary drug abuse and trafficking had became increasingly important, Yau noted. There were a total of 17,868 drug abusers reported to the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CRDA) in 2002, representing a drop of 3.5 percent as compared to 18,511 recorded in 2001, according to Yau.
"The number of reported drug abusers aged under 21 also recorded a decrease, from 3,902 in 2001 to 2,968 in 2002, representing a decrease of 23.9 percent," said Yau.
(China Daily February 21, 2003)
