Commemorating the annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), in conjunction with 15 community associations, has organised a raft of activities under the theme of “Healthy Living” to raise public awareness of and concern about drug use, aiming to spread their anti-drug message.
The public awareness campaign, which kicked off yesterday at the Macau Science Centre (MSC) in Nape and will last for two months, includes the Macau International Youth Anti-Drug Ambassador Training Programme, a thematic forum, a seminar and a football match.
Addressing the kick-off ceremony, IAS President Wilson Hon Wai said in a speech that the government has always attached great importance to the prevention and treatment of drug abuse among young people, adding that following recommendations by the Office of the China National Narcotics Control Commission in 2023, Macau will, for the time, select young representatives next year to attend the annual United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Youth Forum.
The Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Drug Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Department Chief Richard Cheang Io Tat told the media on the sidelines of the ceremony that the IAS Central Registration System for Drug Abusers of Macau received a total of 119 registrations last year, a 40 percent increase year on year, but down by 65 percent compared to pre-pandemic 2019. He pointed out that among the registrations, over 80 percent of the drug users took narcotics at home or in hotel guestrooms, but there has also been an increase in the number of local residents taking drugs in the mainland or in Hong Kong.
Cheang said that the bureau is enhancing its central registration system, in which academics have been invited to make suggestions to improve the system’s reporting process and to clarify the definition of drug abuse: “We hope to complete the report within this year before we proceed to the next stage of work”.
Meanwhile, during yesterday’s ceremony, three youth representatives from the mainland and Hong Kong, who had attended the UNODC Youth Forum, told the ceremony’s attendees about their experiences and feelings when participating in the forum, with the aim of strengthening the exchanges between youths from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, and encouraging local youths to overcome drug-related difficulties, to build up an anti-drugs image for Macau, as well as broadening their international outlook.
Three youth representatives from the mainland and Hong Kong talk about their participation in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Youth Forum during yesterday’s kick-off ceremony at the Macau Science Centre. – Photo: Yuki Lei
