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Hong Kong Confronts Youths' Abuse of Animal Tranquilizers
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Students exchange food during lunch at the Christian Zheng Sheng College, a drug rehabilitation center, on Hong Kong's Lantau Island. The use of psychotropic drugs has soared in Hong Kong in recent years. The primary drug being abused is ketamine, an animal tranquilizer that is produced illegally in China and Hong Kong.
The social problem gained prominence last month after groups of students were found dazed and unconscious at beaches and in parks.
According to local newspapers, 20 percent of Hong Kong's more than 500 secondary schools had sought help on managing students with drug problems. Social workers and academics have described encountering addicts as young as 9.
Zheng Sheng, with 120 students, operates out of a small shed that serves as a canteen, classroom and study area at different times of the day. Its principal, Alman Chan, is trying to get more resources, arguing that education, not punishment, is the only way to get young abusers back on track. "Schooling gives them a chance at life, empowering them, reconnecting them with society. Schooling creates a new status: They are students, not inmates," Chan said.
-- Reuters
