HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - More and more young people are turning to drugaddiction in both Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city.

Datareleased has revealed that in the first nine months of this year there has beena 15 percent increase in the number of registered addicts in HCM City while in DaNang, the amount raised by 38.7 percent in the first half of 2020 compared tolast year.

TranNgoc Du, head of the Social Evils Prevention Division under the HCM City’sLabour, Invalid and Social Affairs department, said drug addicts in the citywere mainly young people, aged between 18 and 35, accounting for 60 percent ofthe total number of drug addicts.

Dusaid that most of them preferred the extravagant lifestyle but have littleknowledge of the dangers of drugs.

Healso added that the main reason for the increase in drug addicts was because ofthe rise in the amount of people being seduced into the illegal lifestyle.

Duringthe implementation of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drugcrimes had shifted its operation from hotels, restaurants, bars, karaoke shopsand clubs to private houses and houses or rooms for rent, he said.

Thecomplicated developments of drug-related crimes were also a great challenge fordrug prevention and control as well as security and order in the city, he said.

Areport of the People’s Committee of Da Nang City said the amount of drugaddicts aged between 18 and 30, accounted for 77 percent of the total drugusers in the city.

Thereport also said that 2.7 percent of students in the city were found toillegally trade and store drugs.

DaNang City now has more than 3,800 drug addicts while HCM City has over 27,000drug addicts, the Tuoi tre (Youth)online newspaper.

Solutions

Dusaid HCM City needed to focus on promoting education of the importance of drugprevention, especially in schools as a solution to fix the situation.

Thepolice force should carry out more raids to curb the drug crimes in the city aswell as improving the police’s capability to fight against the problem, hesaid.

NguyenXuan Cuong, head of the Investigating Drug-related Crime Office under the DaNang City’s Police Department said police in every district in the city hadtaken a range of measures to fight against the drug crimes in the city,including tightening control in key routes and areas.

Ina related movement, the police department already issued a plan to combatcrimes, including drug crimes, in bars, pubs, karaoke shops in an effort toeliminate the drug crimes in the city./.