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Summary and Discussion

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Psychoactive Drug Abuse in Hong Kong

Part of the book series: Quality of Life in Asia ((QLAS,volume 11))

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Abstract

This chapter summarized the major results of the Longitudinal Survey of Psychoactive Drug Abusers in Hong Kong conducted during 2009–2012, which collected data at six time points from a sample of active or former psychoactive drug abusers. Qualitative data obtained from several focus group sessions were also used to interpret some of the significant relationships among the variables. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were examined. The findings were also compared to those of another longitudinal study, entitled “Longitudinal Study of Chronic Drug Abusers in Hong Kong”, conducted in 2000–2003, thereby highlighting some of the characteristics of the changes of the Hong Kong drug scene over two generations of drug abusers. Several major limitations of the study were also discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Other weaknesses of the normalization thesis include (i) failure to consider the influence of social structural factors, such as socioeconomic and cultural conditions, social networks, and law enforcement, on the extent and patterns of normalization among different youth groups and (ii) tendency to exaggerate the extent of social and cultural accommodation of recreational drug use (Fitzgerald et al. 2013; Williams 2016). As normalization varies in terms of extent and with the types of drugs used by different youth groups, some scholars preferred the term “differentiated normalization ” (Shildrick 2002; Shiner and Newburn 1997) to the simplistic and uniform view of normalization in youth drug use. MacDonald and Marsh’s (2002) study of youth in a socially exclude neighbourhood in Northeast England showed that abstinence, recreational use, and problematic use coexisted. In Hong Kong, Cheung and Cheung’s (2006) finding that normalization was limited to marginal youths rather than a widespread phenomenon in the whole youth population is another example of differentiated normalization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong, China

    Yuet Wah Cheung

  2. Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Nicole Wai-ting Cheung

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  1. Yuet Wah Cheung
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  2. Nicole Wai-ting Cheung
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© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Cheung, Y.W., Cheung, N.Wt. (2018). Summary and Discussion. In: Psychoactive Drug Abuse in Hong Kong. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 11. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6154-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6154-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6152-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6154-7

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