Premier Jiang Yi-huah affirmed the government's performance at cracking down on narcotics trafficking during the Executive Yuan's 13th meeting on drug control today.
"Heroin prices soared in the first half of this year because the drug's supply was curtailed in the second half of the previous year," said Premier Jiang after hearing the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office's report on the most recent narcotics smuggling trends and analyses.
"Drug traffickers are ready to make trouble, but fortunately, thanks to longstanding teamwork and perseverance, large quantities of smuggled heroin were seized at wharves and customs stations, indicating the success of the strategy to obstruct narcotics from entering Taiwan by sea."
The most common abusers of schedule 1 and 2 drugs are those age 30 to 40, the premier noted. (Schedule 1 narcotics are considered the most addictive, schedule 2 the second-most, and so forth.) Abusers of schedule 3 and 4 narcotics are most frequently young adults aged 18 to 24—and users of these drugs from this age bracket have nearly doubled year-on-year.
Jiang requested the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Education, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to jointly investigate whether these new drug users are unemployed and out of school as well as how they obtain drugs and then propose prevention measures at the next meeting.
The concept of regarding imprisoned narcotics abusers as patients with illnesses was also discussed at the meeting. Community treatment and other methods of therapy were also considered as replacements to the current in-prison treatment so as to increase the effectiveness of drug control, prevention and treatment. Thinking that the issue merited further deliberation, Premier Jiang instructed the MOJ to invite scholars and experts to further study the issue and summit a report to the next meeting.
In response to the drug abuse analysis report by the MOHW's Food and Drug Administration, Jiang noted ketamine and other new narcotic drugs are increasingly popular, and the average age of the addicts is below 30. He urged all anti-drug departments and agencies to take note of these trends and utilize the MOHW's analysis and report mechanisms to prevent the circulation of new narcotics.
"Upon uncovering narcotics factories, law enforcement agencies should notify the MOHW and Ministry of Economic Affairs to bring their respective management mechanisms together to prevent the manufacturers from gaining more raw materials," he instructed.
After hearing the MOJ's report on the operation of local drug prevention centers, Jiang said that with the growing use of schedule 3 controlled drugs, these centers need to be expanded to strengthen their services and functions. Jiang asked Minister without Portfolio Tsai Yu-ling to coordinate resources among related ministries to provide the necessary funding.
As for the MOHW's assessment of the expansion of methadone use to treat addiction, Jiang said the program will be suspended as it has not been widely accepted by addicts and has cost too much manpower and funding.
As drug addicts account for more than 45 percent of people in correctional institutions, and they have a high recidivism rate, however, Jiang highlighted the importance of reducing relapse into addiction in order to alleviate prison overcrowding. He asked the MOHW to work closely with the MOJ's Agency of Corrections to bolster rehabilitation treatment and help drug addicts to successfully return to society.