Anti-drugs officers have discovered children as young as 11 are using 'ice' and that abuse of the drug among the young has doubled in just 12 months. The revelations have prompted officials to drop the age limit of pupils targeted in drug education campaigns to just 10 years old and are considering taking it to even younger children. Commissioner for Narcotics Clarie Lo Ku Ka-lee said the average age of under-21 drug abusers had dropped from 18 to 17.5 and there were cases involving children aged 11 and 12 taking both hard and soft drugs. 'These young people are often from single-parent families or lack any parental care. There are also cases in which they are under the influence of their peers,' Mrs Lo said. Mrs Lo said her officers would be designing anti-drug talks for primary five pupils similar to those given to secondary and primary six children. Mrs Lo said her office would closely follow drug-use trends to see if it was necessary to conduct talks with younger pupils. She also revealed the proportion of under-21 drug abusers using 'ice' had increased from 5.2 per cent in the first half of 1996 to 11.2 per cent in the same period this year. Secretary for Security Peter Lai Hing-ling said officers were stepping up co-operation with their mainland counterparts to trace the supply of 'ice', or methylamphetamine. The popularity of psychotropic substances - ice, cannabis, cough medicine, organic solvents, ecstasy and cocaine - among young drug users increased from 37.9 per cent to 42.2 per cent. Heroin remained the most popular drug among young people with 64.6 per cent of its abusers under 21. However, the total number of the SAR's reported young drug abusers dropped 17.2 per cent from 2,371 in the first half of last year to 1,964 in the same period this year.
