NGO joins hands with CUHK to curb physical consequences of drug abuse using Chinese medicine

A non-governmental organization has launched a two-year-long traditional Chinese medicine project with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to treat the health consequences of drug addiction from Aug 1, 2021, to July 31 this year.

The project - "Chinese Medicine Treatment of Drug Sequelae cum Preliminary Exploration of Cannabis Treatment" was launched by Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service, while the Centre for Clinical Trials on Chinese Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong provided relevant research prescriptions.

According to the latest drug abuse statistics from the Action Committee Against Narcotics, there has been an increase in drug users since the Covid pandemic outbreak.

In the first quarter of 2023, the overall number of reported drug users was higher than in the same period in 2022, with a total of 1,779 reported cases. The most commonly abused drug by secondary and college degree students was cannabis.

The project's main objective is to assist cannabis users in improving their low energy and restless mood through traditional Chinese medicine, thereby enhancing their motivation to quit drug addiction.

"After eight weeks of traditional Chinese medicine treatment, most participants' physical functions improved, and some patients' symptoms of low motivation improved significantly," said Lau Ho-chuen, Chinese medicine practitioner from Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service. "Most people reduced their marijuana use, which may have reduced their addiction,"

Since August 2021, The Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service has been operating "herbal tea stations" on the streets, where social workers and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners set up stalls to provide pulse diagnosis and prescribe medication for cannabis users.

Over the past two years, they have provided consultation services to 74 cannabis users, and around two-third of the participants have reduced their cannabis use by almost 70 percent after taking traditional Chinese medicine for two weeks.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service said that the study will explore new approaches to drug addiction treatment and will continue to provide free traditional Chinese medicine therapy to enhance the motivation of those undergoing drug rehabilitation.

Also, they will conduct research on the use of traditional Chinese medicine to treat cocaine users, further expanding the study on traditional Chinese medicine for drug addiction treatment.