Strategies for Fighting Drug Usage in Hong Kong

Abstract

Aim: To establish methodologies that could be employed in order to prevent the abuse of drugs amongst the youth in Hong Kong.

Methods: This is a critical literature review.

Results: The main themes uncovered are injected drugs usage, risks of using opioids in the treatment of chronic pain, prevalence of drugs in Hong Kong, relapse prevention, and types of drugs.

Discussion: We have established the methods that drug peddlers are able to distribute illegal drugs to the students. Peer pressure, weight loss, recreational usage, depression, and stress have been identified as the main reasons leading to drug usage amongst the youth in Hong Kong. Counselling and educating the students on the dangers of drug abuse are the best way to fight the menace. Authorities also need to be extra vigilant and intensify their drug control especially in and around schools. Treatment strategies for addicts have also been recommended with nonopioid therapy being recommended.

Conclusion: The review was able to establish the impact of drug abuse on students and strategies that can be used to fight drug usage. Counselling students on the dangers of drug use and the effects of addiction have been recommended.

Recommendations

A majority of young people become addicted to drugs mainly because of peer pressure and the assumption that they can control their usage. Many assume they are only using it for recreational purposes, forgetting that drugs are addictive and they can alter a person\\\\\\\'s way of thinking. The drugs that are abused are not only restricted to the hardcore drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana, or other illegal drugs, but prescription drugs as well. As has been shown, many youths are abusing opioids that are prescribed as pain relivers. Drug abuse amongst the youth in Hong Kong is on the rise and the drug dealers have managed to infiltrate schools and the areas surrounding the schools, which makes it easier for students to access their drugs of choice. There are many reasons that cause the youth to start using drugs and the most common is stress, boredom, and depression (Edlund et al., 2015). Peer pressure is also attributed in many of the cases. The desire to have lean figure or lose weight has also resulted in a majority of women abusing drugs. Methamphetamine is the drug most abused by women who are below 21 years of age. With a side effect of weight loss, many women have become addicted to the drug.

In order to reduce the current rates of drug abuse amongst the youth in Hong Kong we would recommend that schools and the education authorities institute better methods for identifying the drug traffickers who are within the school and the ones located around the schools. Students should also be taken through drug prevention forums and teachers educated on how they can spot a student who is using drugs (Kolodny et al., 2015). Educating the students on the negative effects of drugs will result in the students being more aware of the dangers of drug abuse and the risks associated with recreational usage of drugs. As has been noted in our review, many of the students become addicted to drugs as they started using them for recreation. Therefore,

Counsellors could also be appointed in schools who will offer guidance to students who are depressed, stressed, and facing peer pressure. Students need to have a way to let out the pressures they face in life or even in their studies. With a counsellor being available to listen and advice the students, they will most likely not fall into the trap of drug abuse. Women who are also pressurized into taking drugs in order to lose weight and fit in the media image of a perfect woman should also be advised on the dangers that the drugs they are taking have on their bodies (Volkow, 2014). The counsellor could offer more appropriate methods for losing weight. The women should also be encouraged to be comfortable in their bodies and not fall into the trap being portrayed in the media. the best strategy to fight this menace is the discourage students from ever taking drugs.

Addiction is not an easy thing for a person to admit because it has been associated with stigmatization (Kwan, Bobko, Faulkner, Donnelly, & Cairney, 2014). With families not understanding on how to deal with addiction, especially for a young person many of them prefer to ignore it and assume that this is just a phase that will come to an end. However, this is never the case and the student\\\\\\\'s addiction worsens. Families should also be educated on the effects of addiction and how they can determine if their child is using drugs. To fight addiction, the addict needs to understand that they are still loved. Within the healthcare community, stigmatization of addicts also exists, which can makes it hard to connect addicts with the appropriate care they need (Walton et al., 2014).

Depending on the drug they have been using there are different strategies that can be employed for fighting the addiction. In addition to undergoing counseling the addict could also be given nonopioid therapy or opioid therapy. However, it has been established that nonopioid therapy is best since it reduces the chances of the addict being addicted to pain killers. Prescription of opioids has a side effect of a person being addicted to the drugs, and this might result in them relapsing back to the usage of drugs (Kolodny et al., 2015). If a former addict becomes addicted to pain killers that are prescribed to them during their therapy session, they will most likely relapse to using drugs because they will find it hard to obtain the prescription drugs. Prescription drugs are also more expensive than illegal drugs.

Further research should be conducted to determine the impact of therapy on the students who undergo drug rehabilitation. This will shine light on the strategies that are effective and have them being used to reduce the rates of relapse. Since this was a research review, we were not able to analyze first-hand the impact of drug abuse in Hong Kong, and this might limit our findings.