The undersecretary for security says he is satisfied that 61 per cent of pupils in Tai Po are willing to join a voluntary drug-testing scheme.
Lai Tung-kwok said on a Commercial Radio programme yesterday that the remaining pupils had opted not to take part in the scheme for various reasons, but this did not mean they objected to drug testing.
'This is the first time a drug-testing scheme has been run and the scheme is voluntary,' he said. 'There has been both positive support and opinions about how to improve the scheme. We have not denied this point.
'I hope through the implementation of the scheme, those pupils who have not taken part in it will get the drug-free message.'
Lai said he did not think the Security Bureau would assume that pupils who were unwilling to take part were drug users.
He added that people should not rely only on the government in the campaign against teenage drug use.