A new anti-drug centre opened on Tuesday, one day after a 20-year-old Hong Kong girl died after taking two Ecstasy tablets in a nightclub in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The InfoCentre, located in the Queensway Government Offices in Admiralty, features a two-storey exhibition hall and a library with more than 8,000 drug-related books, journals and research reports.
The objective of the exhibition is to educate people about the effects of drug abuse by using real-life case-studies showing how drugs have destroyed people's lives.
The exhibition provides information about different types of drugs and how they affect the human body.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, speaking at the InfoCentre's opening ceremony, said: 'We believe that education is the best way to curb the demand for drugs. Most of the exhibits are inspired by real-life stories from our society.
One of the exhibits is a story told by a mother whose son died from drug abuse. As a father and grandfather, I fully understand parents' anxieties for their beloved children. I hope that the [InfoCentre] will spread the anti-drug messages far and wide ... and will help to prevent a repeat of such tragedies.'
He expressed pride in the fact that Hong Kong's drug problem was not as bad as that of other countries, but said the government would 'spare no efforts' to combat drug abuse among young people.
