NCJ Number
180606
Date Published
1998
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This report describes the personal and family characteristics, drug abuse patterns, and other aspects of the 2,650 convicted drug addicts admitted to drug treatment centers in Hong Kong during 1996.
Abstract
The program provides residential treatment and offers the courts an alternative to prison for drug addicts. Twenty-six percent of the addicts were ages 14-20, of whom 83 percent were males and 17 percent were females. Seventy-four percent of those admitted were adults ages 21 and over, of whom 88 percent were males and 12 percent were females. Sixty-six percent of the adults were single; 27 percent were married; and 7 percent were separated, divorced, or widowed. Ninety percent of the young drug addicts and 62 percent of the adults lived with their parents. Sixty-four percent of the young addicts began to abuse drugs between ages 15 and 17. Some 26 percent of the adults were ages 18-20 and another 27 percent were ages 21-24 when they started to take drugs. Seventy-nine percent claimed that they started to take drugs out of curiosity, 38 percent started taking drugs to gain acceptance from addict friends, and 93 percent were with friends when they first took drugs. Almost all abused heroin, which has been the most popular drug of abuse for many years. Forty-nine percent injected drugs. Fifty-six percent of the young male addicts and 40 percent of the adult addicts reported triad affiliations. Fifty-eight percent of the males committed a property offense as their first offense; 75 percent of the females first committed a narcotics offense. Seventy-one percent of the adults and 40 percent of the young addicts had previously served institutional sentences. Tables and figures