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46 Hong Kong L.J. 793 (2016)
Making Good: Dealing with Illegal Drug Consumption in Hong Kong

handle is hein.journals/honkon46 and id is 799 raw text is: MAKING GOOD: DEALING WITH ILLEGAL DRUG CONSUMPTION IN HONG KONG 71 Jack Burke and Sheldon Leung* Following a public consultation process, the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN), a non-statutory body tasked with advising the Hong Kong Government about how best to combat illegal drugs, issued a Conclusion that supported further exploration of a policy to adopt a drug-testing scheme for those suspected of using drugs. ACAN's recommendation is based primarily on the perceived success of a broad-based drug-testing scheme used in Sweden. While none of the recommendations have progressed beyond this very preliminary stage, ACAN intends to launch a second consultation stage that may bring this type of scheme to fruition. This article will examine the key elements of the scheme, as currently proposed, as well as its exemplar in Sweden. The article will also canvass the seriousness of Hong Kong's illegal drug problem, and the rapidly rising danger of crystal methamphetamine, and explore whether or not there might be better methods to deal with the dangers associated with drug use. 1. Introduction The latest annual figures released by the Central Registry of Drug Abuse (CRDA) indicate that overall illegal drug abuse1 is decreasing in Hong Kong.2 However, authorities have expressed concerns about data evidencing an increasing length of time between the commencement of drug abuse by individuals and their detection, and the subsequent serious harm to them which results from their failure to Jack Burke is a Senior Teaching Fellow at City University of Hong Kong and Sheldon Leung is an Associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Drug abuse is defined for these purposes, as the taking of substance that harms or threatens to harm the individual, in doses above or for periods beyond those normally regarded as therapeutic: Narcotics Division, Security Bureau, CRDA, Sixty-Third Report (Hong Kong: Narcotics Division Hong Kong Government, 2013) p 93, available at http://www.nd.gov.hk/en/ crda 63rd report.htm (visited 16 March 2016). 2 Narcotics Division, Security Bureau, Press Releases, Number of Reported Drug Users Continues to Decline but Still Requires attention (7 October 2016) p 1, available at www.nd.gov.hk/en/ (visited 24 October 2016).