What happens when you do drugs: rehabilitating addicts share dark tales, warn Hongkongers to beware amid Christmas merrymaking
- From toilet woes to broken families and dreams, four long-time drug addicts sound a sober warning to young thrill-seekers
- Number of drug users aged under 21 in first three-quarters of year surged nearly 80 per cent from same period in 2020
The first taste of an illicit drug may seem like a harmless thrill, but this can be followed by years of suffering and pain, long-time addicts have warned, appealing to young Hongkongers to steer clear of illegal substances amid the Christmas cheer.
The number of reported drug abusers aged under 21 in the first three-quarters of this year surged nearly 80 per cent from the same period in 2020 – from 411 to 734 – marking a seven-year high, when 829 cases were recorded in 2014.
This is despite the government’s Central Registry of Drug Abuse recording only a slight increase in the total number of drug abusers – from 4,636 in the first nine months last year to 4,808 in the same period this year.
The number of arrests for drug offences in the first nine months of 2021 also went up by 28 per cent from last year to 3,423, while those aged under 21 among them jumped by 40 per cent to 518.
The Post speaks to rehabilitating addicts recounting their spiral into the abyss of abuse:
‘I have to go to the toilet every five to 10 minutes’