According to the 'South China Morning Post' today, legislators have demanded an overhaul of a 24-year-old treatment programme which has failed to help drugddicts. According to the paper, some councillors accuse the Government of acting like "the biggest drug wholesaler, selling the cheapest drug: methadone".

The authorities were cheating themselves and wasting taxpayers' money they said in a joint meeting of the Legislative Councils health services and security panels yesterday.

The criticism follows the release of a report by the Legco Secretariats research and library service division, which concluded the Health Departments methadone programme was ineffective.

Findings showed most of the 10,000 patients seeking methadone from the 21 clinics received little help in abstaining from drugs and crime.

Legislator Dr Leong Che-hung said the Department should think of other effective measures - "For most of the patients, methadone is only a cheap drug, it is only a substitute for heroin. When they have money, they take heroin. When they are poor, they seek methadone", he said according to 'South China Morning Post'.

Democratic Partys Fred Li Wah-ming and Tsang Kin-shing said the scheme had been a failure. OVER THE PAST 24 YEARS, ABOUT 200 PATIENTS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TREATED!!

"The Government is like a big drug wholesaler selling cheap drugs. It should think of some long-term plan such as increasing the number of social workers", Mr Tsang said.

Dr Chan Wai-man, Assistant Director of Health, admitted the programme was a "shelter" for drug addicts who were not willing or able to stop using drugs.

HNN-comment: It would be most interesting to get the facts about the real effects of European methadone programmes. At present there are some 15.000 in Switzerland and about 10.000 in the Netherlands receiving methadone. Is it a waste of taxpayers' money there as well?

HASSELA NORDIC NETWORK - Press release 16/04/96