The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater Bay Area has stepped up its campaign against drug trafficking and abuse with a call for the region to stand fast in combating the problem. In Hong Kong, an alarming rise in the number of young people becoming addicted to the drug etomidate has led to its being banned. Wu Kunling reports.

"It's like soaring into the skies," recalls 20-year-old Chloe about her first brush with the "space oil drug".

"But the euphoria flees quickly, prompting you to take another puff, and then another."

It was at a party in July last year when Chloe first took a hit from a friend's "vape". After less than a week, she started digging into her own pocket for the "pleasure", embarking on a journey she would live to bitterly regret.

Rising addiction

The specially crafted e-cigarettes house cartridges filled with the "space oil drug" that mainly consists of etomidate. In February, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region took a drastic step in the fight against "space oil" by classifying etomidate as a dangerous drug, along with its three analogues, or chemical compounds that have similar effects. "Space oil" — a term coined by drug dealers for a kind of liquid with harmful substances added illegally and used as a "blind box" to spur sales — sometimes also blends with other controlled drugs like cannabis and ketamine, commonly known as "K".

The HKSAR government adopted the term "etomidate" for "space oil" on July 31 to avoid the latter's "sugarcoated" effects. It had earlier listed all etomidate analogues as dangerous drugs, empowering law enforcement officers to combat their illegal trafficking, manufacturing, possession and use.

Chloe had long battled depression with medication. She gradually found herself increasingly reliant on etomidate to alleviate mounting pressures. "Buying it wasn't difficult at all," she says.

The reusable vaping device costs between HK$100 ($12.80) and HK$300. Each cartridge with etomidate is priced from HK$200 to HK$400 and its effects can last less than an hour. Chloe says, at her peak, she took five to seven cartridges daily.

"Many people know the immediate pleasure derived from using 'space oil'," she says. "But, few understand the long-term physical and mental consequences of being addicted to it."Uncontrolled consumption leads to significant hair loss on the head, rapid growth of body hair, and a notable increase in facial acne. Sometimes, Chloe would sway uncontrollably due to hallucinations, coupled with intense trembling in her hands and feet.

Adrift in addiction, Chloe couldn't shake off her craving for the drug. It consumed her from the moment she woke up till she fell asleep. But quitting wasn't a walk in the park. Despite her family's persuasion and reproaches, and even a court probation order on her against purchasing drugs offline, she couldn't break free. It wasn't until December last year when she could no longer bear the harsh side effects of her addiction, as well as the substantial financial burden of acquiring etomidate, that she decided to dump all her e-cigarettes and cartridges. With the support of social workers and friends, she succeeded in calling it quits after about two months — a process she calls "torturous".

Looking back, Chloe believes that presenting the drug in the guise of an e-cigarette lowers young people's guard. Drawing from what she had gone through, her advice to those seeking to break free from addiction is: Go for other personal pleasures to break your focus on drugs, and put your money into someone's care to plug the urge to purchase them.

Chloe is not the only victim; etomidate has emerged as the bane of an ever-growing number of people in Hong Kong.

According to the city's Security Bureau, etomidate became the third most-used drug by youngsters following cannabis and cocaine, with 139 out of 593 cases of drug users aged below 21 addicted to etomidate in the first three quarters of last year. In the first half of 2025, etomidate-related cases accounted for nearly a quarter of 1,425 recorded drug cases, surpassing cocaine (15.6 percent) and marijuana (15.4 percent).

The police reported that there were only eight arrests linked to etomidate in 2023. The figure saw a dramatic 34-fold surge last year to 278, including 61 people who were under 21.

What has stirred widespread public concern is the growing involvement of young people in etomidate-related offenses. Chloe was only 19, having just graduated from high school, when she began taking drugs. According to the Security Bureau's Narcotics Division, the youngest drug user found in the first half of this year was a mere 11 years old.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told the Legislative Council in June that up to 20 percent of those arrested for illegal possession of etomidate between 2023 and May this year were under 21. Data from the Central Registry of Drug Abuse showed that young people below 21 made up about 70 percent of etomidate abusers during the same period.

Beyond possessing and consuming the drug, some residents, including a significant number of young people, were lured into storing, transporting or even smuggling it, police said.

Social worker Yvonne Cheng of the Rainbow Lutheran Centre — one of 11 government-funded counseling centers for those grappling with psychotropic substance abuse — said young people would become addicted for various reasons. Some yield to peer pressure, but more, like Chloe, struggle to find healthy outlets to relieve their stress, resulting in them becoming trapped in a vicious circle of abuse.

Due to the substantial negative influence of these drugs, especially on youth, Hong Kong is combating the problem with unprecedented force as more government departments and wide sectors of the community join the campaign.

Enforcement escalation

The police have stepped up checks on online platforms as many of the confiscated drugs and arrests stem from drug trafficking through the social media. Through this process, officers analyze the latest online trading trends, while urging platform operators to remove accounts or channels involved in drug activities.

The SAR government said etomidate tests were already included in voluntary school drug detection starting from 2025/26 school year.

The Counselling Centre for Psychotropic Substance Abusers, under the Social Welfare Department, has organized anti-drug talks at over 170 schools, reaching 38,000 students, teachers, and social workers. Initiatives are also underway to educate parents through collaboration with teachers and home-school organizations in various districts.

Improving technological applications has emerged as a fresh approach for law enforcement agencies in tackling the etomidate threat. As consumption tools of the drug look very similar to e-cigarettes, etomidate rapid test kits have been introduced to boost the enforcement efficiency of frontline officers since January. By June, 80 people had been arrested with the help of the new test kits. Customs officers have also incorporated etomidate and its analogues into the databases of Raman spectrometers and ion scanners to increase frontline personnel's efficiency in detecting the drug.

Having seen Chloe's struggle in overcoming drug addiction, Cheng says she deeply respects her determination and courage. Instead of external persuasion or pressure, personal resolve remains the key factor in successful drug rehabilitation, she says.

In her view, parents, friends and relatives should avoid harshly blaming or coercing misguided young people and, instead, try to understand the root causes of their drug use and the hardships they face.

"Young people need more patience and support from society and those around them," urges Cheng. "It truly takes time for them to find ways that suit them in coping with their emotions."

The proliferation of etomidate isn't just a problem that Hong Kong faces. In Guangdong province, Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia, related criminal incidents have continued to spark social discussions.

Within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, etomidate-related crimes, including possession and trafficking of the drug, have shown a high degree of fluidity, with various cross-boundary ports becoming key locations for detecting such offenses.

In January, two teenage girls from the Chinese mainland were charged after Hong Kong customs officers found a vape suspected of containing etomidate in one of their handbags at the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. The suspects, aged 18 and 19 — one was a student in the SAR, while the other had a tourist visa. In March, a 25-year-old traveler arriving from Shenzhen was found with nine suspected etomidate cartridges and a vaping device at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point, adding to several detected cases involving etomidate at cross-boundary ports that month.

Closer cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland is crucial in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking. Last month, Hong Kong hosted the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Anti-drug Summit, giving the city's drug control gathering a Greater Bay Area theme for the first time.

The event also saw attendance from representatives of Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau. Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwokki highlighted the crackdown on etomidate in his address, while participants shared their anti-drug experiences, underscoring the significance of closer collaboration.

Hong Kong law enforcement agencies and intelligence departments, with their mainland counterparts, have maintained a robust alliance in combating drug-related crimes, including the etomidate menace.

In April, based on intelligence analysis, Hong Kong and mainland Customs officers inspected an express parcel during a joint law enforcement operation. Declared as coconut oil and sent from Thailand via Shenzhen to Hong Kong, the parcel concealed about two kilograms of suspected liquid etomidate in four bottles, with an estimated market value of HK$2 million. Two suspects were subsequently detained in San Po Kong.

Hong Kong has vowed to continue prioritizing collaborative efforts in fighting drug abuse, affirming plans to bolster cooperation with local, mainland and international law enforcement agencies to intercept the influx of etomidate into the city at its source.

At the Greater Bay Area Anti-drug Summit, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Narcotics Control Commission Liang Ruiguo, cited an ancient Chinese idiom alluding to "lips and teeth "to depict the close geographical ties and shared future of cities in the Greater Bay Area.

He called for deepened exchanges and cooperation among cities in combating drugs, saying that making the Greater Bay Area a drug-free region is a mission that all cities must shoulder together.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com