Traditional Chinese medicine can effectively reduce drug abuse including cannabis addiction, says a Christian NGO run by Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hong Kong.

 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service has been successful in battling drug abuse by using Chinese medicine in the past two years, the group said on July 31, the Standard reported.

 

It claimed that about two-thirds or 50 out of 75 cannabis users who received regular treatment from the group were able to reduce addiction by 70 percent, the group said as it marked the closing of the two-year project in the city.

 

The project "Chinese Medicine Treatment of Drug Sequelae cum Preliminary Exploration of Cannabis Treatment” offered traditional Chinese medicine to cannabis users for two weeks a month as part of their treatment process.  

 

Lau Ho-Chuen, a Chinese medicine practitioner from the NGO stated that the treatment showed significant changes in cannabis addicts.

 

"After eight weeks of traditional Chinese medicine treatment, most participants' physical functions improved, and some patients' symptoms of low motivation improved significantly," Lau said.

 

"Most people reduced their marijuana use, which may have reduced their addiction," he further added.

 

The project launched on Aug. 1, 2021, was run in collaboration with the Center for Clinical Trials on Chinese Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong which provided research prescriptions.

 

Since the project’s launch, the volunteers from the NGO have been operating "herbal tea stations" on the streets of Hong Kong.

 

Social workers and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners at the stalls provide pulse diagnosis and prescribe medication for cannabis users.

 

The key objective of the project was to assist cannabis users in improving their low energy and restless mood through traditional Chinese medicine, thereby enhancing their motivation to quit drug addiction.

 

The group stated that the results of the study will help in exploring “new approaches to drug addiction treatment”

 

The group further added that it will continue to provide free traditional Chinese medicine therapy to “enhance the motivation” of those undergoing drug rehabilitation.

 

The group said that it will research the use of traditional Chinese medicine to treat cocaine users, further expanding the study on traditional Chinese medicine for drug addiction treatment.

 

According to data from the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) in June, the total number of reported drug abusers increased from 1,509 in 2022 to 1,779 in the first quarter of 2023.

 

ACAN is a Hong Kong-based non-statutory body that advises the government on the various policies and processes that are needed to reduce drug abuse.

 

The committee noted that the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic during the first quarter of 2022 may have affected the relevant numbers during that period.

 

It reported that the most common type of drugs abused among those aged under 21 was cocaine, cannabis, and ketamine which is commonly known as “K.”

 

The committee also noted that in the first quarter of 2023, cocaine continued to overtake methamphetamine or “ice” and became the most common type of psychotropic substance abuse, the same as the full-year situation in 2022.

 

“Among the reported young drug abusers aged under 21, it is a concern that over half of them abused cocaine,” its report stated.