Editorial - Development and evaluation of a drug prevention program in Hong Kong

A survey of the websites of several international organizations (e.g., Office on Drugs and Crime of the United Nations, International Narcotics Control Board, National Institute of Drug Abuse in the United States, and European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction) shows that illicit drug use is a growing global problem. With the influence of post-modern thoughts and changing youth sub-culture, adolescent substance abuse is also an acute global problem which has captured the attention of policy-makers, youth workers and the general public. As an international city, adolescent substance abuse is also a growing concern in Hong Kong (1-2). With reference to the substance abuse figures reported to the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CDRA) maintained by the Narcotics Division of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, several phenomena regarding adolescent substance abuse can be observed. First, there were several peaks in adolescent substance in the past two decades: the first peak was in mid-1990s which was mainly due to easy access to tranquilizers, which were not tightly controlled by legislations; the second peak was in early 2000s which was closely related to the rave party culture and ecstasy; the third peak was in the recent two years, which is mainly related to abuse of ketamine in schools. In fact, these peaks mirrored the global trend of abusing non-opiate psychotropic substances and the growing belief among young people that psychotropic substance abuse is non-addictive and it is a trendy choice of life.