ONE-THIRD OF DRUG USERS AGED UNDER 21 YEARS

Drug trafficking and use among young people has been rising in recent
years, in particular with new drugs such as ketamine and ice, the
Government Information Bureau acknowledged in a statement released
yesterday - a day before International Day against Drug Abuse and
Illicit Drug Trafficking.

According to a report by the Judiciary Police, heroin, ice, ketamine,
cannabis, cocaine, nimetazepam, midazolam and ephedrine are the drugs
most frequently seized.

Of the 626 registered drug users in the system, 221 - about one third
(35.3 percent) - are aged under 21 years, with an average age of 17.4
years. On the other hand, the average age for the first experience of
drug use is 14.8 years, points out the report.

Among these youngsters, ketamine seems to be the most used drug (63.4
percent), followed by ice and ecstasy, 16 and 7 percent, respectively.
According to the report, it appears that most are influenced by
friends (41.1 percent), while 19.4 percent said that they tried drugs
out of curiosity. Nightclubs and karaoke establishments lead the list
where drugs are consumed (33.9 percent), followed by friends' houses.

"Those numbers are not surprising," the president of the Association
for the Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macau (ARTM) said. "The
biggest concern remains the increase in ketamine and ice use among the
youngsters," Augusto Nogueira told the Macau Daily Times. The majority
of people who seek treatment for drug abuse continue to do so for
heroin addiction. "The majority of people who use party drugs do not
believe they have a problem and normally they are younger than the
heroin addicts," he explained.

Nogueira stressed that party drugs do huge damage to the brain, and
ARTM has been trying to educate young people and create awareness
among students. Ketamine causes cognitive difficulties and impaired
memory and motor function, with the possibility of leading to
convulsions, delirium, respiratory arrest, heart failure, and finally,
death.

Ice is a street name for crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride, which
is a powerful, synthetic stimulant drug. Soon after taking ice, a
person may experience euphoria, excitement and well being, as well as
increased energy. But at the same time they will start to feel tremors
of the hands and fingers, increased breathing rate, body temperature,
blood pressure, and a rapid and irregular heartbeat. Hallucinations,
paranoid delusions and bizarre behaviour are other symptoms, and there
is the possibility of an overdose.

Looking for new ways

"We really need to try and understand why this is happening. We know
that the number of youngsters that consume drugs has been rising, but
we need to identify the reasons so that we can work on the prevention
side," Nogueira stressed.

According to the ARTM president, the lack of healthy entertainment
options for youngsters and their ability to cross the border to Zhuhai
without any restriction - not even needing parent's authorisation -
adds to the problem.

"Nightclubs and karaoke's are venues where they feel a bit more free
to try drugs, as it happens also in Zhuhai. There are a lot of young
people going to the mainland China just to consume this psychotropic
substances, and this is not a new trend," he said, adding that young
people taking drugs for fun "is the biggest concern in Macau."

Nogueira is also a member of the Narcotics Control Commission, and is
working directly in the Youth Drug Problem Concern Working Group
trying to find a solution for the problem. "We've been discussing
several topics, and we know that we should restrain the procedures for
youngsters to cross the border to Zhuhai and also control the entrance
to some entertainment venues.

"Moreover, there should be a way to make owners accountable if they
let youngsters abuse drugs in their venues. We are studying the best
way to implement some new measures," he said.

According to the Judiciary Police in recent years heroin, cannabis,
ecstasy, ketamine and ice were the major drugs seized in Macau. In
2009, there were 302 people arrested for drug-related crimes, of which
130 were charged with trafficking, 170 charged with consumption and 2
charged with other offences.