Legislators have demanded an overhaul of a 24-year-old treatment programme which has failed to help drug addicts.
Some councillors accused 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 Council's health services and security panels yesterday.
The criticism followed the release of a report by the Legco Secretariat's research and library service division, which concluded the Health Department's methadone treatment programme was ineffective.
Findings showed most of the 10,000 patients seeking methadone from the 21 clinics received little help in avoiding drugs and crime.
Legislator Dr Leong Che-hung said the Department should think of other effective measures.
