Drug abuse among youngsters drops in 2016

The number of youngsters on the list of drug abusers dropped significantly in 2016 when compared year-on-year, the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said in a statement after the first plenary meeting of the year from Narcotics Control Commission (CLD) late last week.

According to the IAS, citing figures from the Central Registry of Drug Abuse of Macau, the total number of drug users in the region in 2016 was 548, of which 6.2 percent were minors. This represented a drop of 55.3 percent year-
on-year.

The most consumed substance continues to be “ice,” which was said to be accountable for 35.4 percent of the total of drugs consumed in Macau last year, a figure that continues to rise.

The figures further showed that drug consumption usually takes place in the user’s home, a friend’s house or a hotel room, constituting 70 percent of the cases. This contributes to the difficulties in identifying drug users.   

The average amount spent for drug consumption also rose, increasing by 11.8 percent year-on-
year to a monthly average of MOP7,330.

During the plenary meeting, the CLD team in charge of monitoring drug consumption among youth presented a follow-up plan on detoxification, as well as a new mobile app that will raise awareness of how best to prevent drug abuse and utilize community intervention teams to provide youth and their families with advice and assistance.

An additional topic discussed was the new drug law that came into force on January 28 this year, which implements new changes such as heavy penalties for both trafficking and consumption.

CLD members concluded that it was necessary to re-establish the “Working Group for the Enforcement and Follow-up of the Anti-drugs Law” in order to study the effects of the new law.