7 Photos
In recent years, the ages of drug abusers tend to be younger. To help youngsters stay away from drugs, the Narcotics Bureau (NB) founded the Leadership Institute on Narcotics (L.I.O.N.) in 2021. 80 secondary school students and 20 university students were selected as mentees and divided into 20 groups, each of which was assigned with a mentor from various professions. By providing anti-drug knowledge and leadership skill training to the mentees systematically, L.I.O.N. aims to enhance the mentees’ sense of social responsibility and nurture them into anti-drugs leaders who will implement anti-drug programmes on campus to publicise anti-drug messages.
Visiting Dawn Island
NB officers, mentors and mentees of L.I.O.N. paid a visit to the Dawn Island Gospel Addiction Treatment Centre on May 7. Ex-drug addicts shared their experience in addiction treatment and the mentees helped redecorate the planter of the Centre in return to show their support. Yiu, one of the mentees, said, “The experiences of the ex-drug addicts allowed me to understand the serious consequences of drug abuse. I will actively publicise the harmful effects of drug abuse and urge the public to stay away from drugs.”
L.I.O.N. ice-breaking day cum opening ceremony
「The ice-breaking day cum opening ceremony of L.I.O.N. was held at the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters on June 11. With the assistance from the physical training instructors of the Police College and the Force Rope Access Cadre, over 100 mentees and mentors took part in the ice-breaking day. They came to know each other better and successfully built rapport through the games. Commissioner Siu Chak-yee officiated at the ceremony and presented certificates of appreciation to the sponsoring bodies and certificates of appointment to L.I.O.N.’s Executive Committee members, professional trainers and mentors.
Workshop on drug knowledge
The mentees attended the Drug Knowledge Workshop held at the Hong Kong Baptist University on June 12. NB officers, professors from urology study and chemistry department, a lawyer specialising in criminal law, an experienced social worker and an ex-drug abuser who succeeded in rehabilitating explained the harmful effects of drug abuse and drug-related offences to alarm the mentees that they should stay away from drugs. The mentees also learned about thin layer chromatography for identifying drugs and experienced the smells of stimulated drugs in the university laboratory. The workshop helped clarifying the mentees’ misunderstanding about drugs.
Leadership and creativity workshop
L.I.O.N. held a leadership and creativity workshop for the mentees on June 18. Three professional trainers were invited to boost the mentees’ capabilities in event planning and skills in team management through innovative means to inspire their creativity and promote their personal development so that they could plan anti-drug publicity programmes in the future.
Conclusion
The mentees will continue receiving leadership training and design their anti-drug publicity programmes between June and August. Between September and November, they will publicise anti-drug messages on campus and in the community. L.I.O.N. aspires to nurture mentees who will become anti-drug leaders to promote the drug-free culture for youngsters to recognise the serious consequences of drug taking and drug trafficking so that they can be protected from the harms of drugs.
