Hong Kong’s drug policy was once described as ‘enlightened prohibition’, characterised by its emphasis on rehabilitation and a low-threshold, high-coverage methadone maintenance programme for heroin users (Cheung & Ch’ien, 1997). At the turn of the millennium, with a shift and diversification towards psychotropic drugs, the government had to identify new ways of addressing the needs of the broader range of people who use drugs (PWUD) and the types of drugs used. At the same time, it has remained firm in its goal of a ‘drug-free’ society. Through interviews with PWUD (n=75) and 5 focus groups with social workers (n=17), we sought to understand how, in Hong Kong’s abstinence-oriented policy context, PWUD manage drug-related risks. With a lens of drug, set and setting (Zinberg, 1984), we found that PWUD consider moderation to be the most important aspect of harm-reduction, and attending rehabilitation centres provides an opportunity for a ‘circuit-break’ in their drug-using careers, yet the abstinence-orientation dissuades some from seeking treatment. While PWUD adopt self-directed strategies for quality control and drug administration, they face a plethora of risks relating to the social setting of their use. In conceptualising harm-reduction as ‘well-being’ maintenance (Boucher et al, 2017), we found that different groups of PWUD have varying levels of acceptance of health-related risks in pursuit of other well-being interests. Our findings have implications for the acceptability of harm-reduction interventions in Hong Kong.
Verity is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. Her main interests are drug use, party and leisure contexts, policy, policing and ethnography.
Cynthia Wing Nga Lam is a second-year PhD candidate in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Western University. She received her M.Phil. in Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.