Responding to the problem, a voluntary drug-testing scheme was launched in all secondary schools in Tai Po which is one of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, covering a total of 23 schools and about 22,000 students.
Under the scheme, a consent form is given to all students and parents. Students are randomly selected to undergo urine test conducted by two nursing staff of an outreaching team which also consists of two social workers twice a month.
Students have the right to refuse to be tested after being selected for testing.
All data collected will not be used for making prosecution even results are positive.
Commissioner for Narcotics Sally Wong stressed the scheme aimed to help students with drug abuse problems by spotting them out and offering them counseling and assistance, but not to punish them.
The drug-testing scheme was introduced after the Task Force on Youth Drug Abuse, led by Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung, published a report in 2008 on how to combat drug abuse.
One of the recommendations made was introducing a school-based drug testing schemes for voluntary adoption by schools.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment