Previous participation in outpatient methadone program and residential treatment outcome: a research note from Hong Kong.

Methadone maintenance programs are good examples of harm-reduction efforts because heroin addicts stabilized on methadone have been found to be able to reduce illicit drug use and criminality and improve their life condition, even though they have not achieved abstinence. While excluding the criterion of abstinence allows the harm-reduction approach to distinguish itself from traditional treatment, little research attention has been paid to the relationship between methadone programs and abstinence-oriented treatment programs. This research note reports some of the findings of a study of 77 former male clients of SARDA, a voluntary residential treatment agency in Hong Kong, pertaining to such a relationship. Findings suggest that a client's previous participation in the Outpatient Methadone Program of the Department of Health could facilitate successful outcome in his subsequent participation in SARDA's treatment program and help him to continue his drug-free status in the post-SARDA treatment period. Conceptual and policy implications of the findings are discussed. [Translations are provided in the International Abstracts Section of this issue.]

Drug use and drug policy in Hong Kong: changing patterns and new challenges.

This paper is a sociohistorical examination of drug misuse and drug policy in Hong Kong. It briefly traces the history of drug policy since Hong Kong became a colony of Britain in the nineteenth century, and then highlights the major drug issues that have emerged in the past several decades. Drug policy in Hong Kong has gone through three stages, from "Government Opium Monopoly" (1841-1945) to "The Prohibition Era" (1946-1960) to "Enlightened Prohibition" (1961-1995). The evolution in drug policy is analyzed in the light of both domestic and international social, economic, and political forces affecting Hong Kong. The major drug issue in the past two decades has been the trends of rising levels of drug use among young people and the increasing popularity of psychoactive drugs among young drug users. It is argued that these trends may be understood in terms of rapid social change resulting from industrialization and socioeconomic growth since the 1960s, and the presence of conditions favorable to the demand and supply of psychoactive drugs. Lastly, major challenges to future drug policy in Hong Kong are discussed.

Recovery training and self help: a relapse-prevention program for treated opiate addicts.

Recovery Training and Self Help (RTSH) is a new form of psychosocial treatment for drug addiction. Developed as an outpatient group aftercare modality for opiate addicts in New England and Hong Kong, it significantly reduced the probability of relapse to illicit opiates and helped unemployed subjects find work. Based on a social theory of addiction and health promotion principles, the four-part program features a weekly recovery training session, a weekly self-help style session, weekend recreational and social activities, and a support network of long-term ex-addicts. Recovery training follows a 26 week sequence of didactic presentations and exercises that systematically address predictable causes of relapse, while the other clinical components provide motivation and support for continued abstinence and social reintegration. The authors believe that RTSH should have a wide range of applicability.