Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Henry Tong said the situation with teenagers taking the space oil drug is worrying.
He said teachers and parents find it hard to spot students taking the drug, which is usually inhaled through vaping devices.
Tong noted that e-cigarettes make it easy to easy to hide abuse of the drug as, unlike with the distinctive smell of traditional cigarettes, the space oil drug offers different flavours such as fruit and chocolate.
He emphasised that the government should proceed with all haste in implementing the ban.
The Security Bureau said 300 people reportedly took the drug last year, with 75 percent of them aged below 21.
There was a greater incidence of the cases in North district, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun.
Ng Sing-chin, chairman of Tuen Mun District Secondary School Heads Association, said on the same show that the number of reported space oil cases in these places might be due to their higher number of students.
He also said the participation rate for the “Healthy School Programme,” an anti-drug education initiative that comes with voluntary drug testing, varies among districts.
For instance, while more than 90 percent of the schools in Tai Po have already signed up for the scheme, only a few schools among the dozens in other districts have done so.
He told RTHK there might be a reason why some schools decided not to join the programme.
“I think that maybe for schools, anti-drug education might not be a high priority. Because actually there were only a very low number of students taking drugs. It’s a minority. Therefore, teachers’ time and efforts might be on education,” he said
“In recent years, we care a lot about students’ mental health and emotions, and they might focus more in these areas.”
Ng emphasised that rather than mainly relying on tests to tell if a student is on drug, the priority should be on teachers’ observation and peer support.
