Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2005
Source: Taipei Times, The (Taiwan)
Copyright: 2005 The Taipei Times
Contact:  http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1553
Author: Mo Yan-Chih, Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

OFFICIALS TACKLE DRUGS AND VIOLENCE

YOUTH CRIME: Urine screening on school and college campuses will form part 
of a joint government campaign to fight illegal and harmful behavior among 
young people

In a bid to eradicate drugs and violence from school and college campuses, 
the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the 
Department of Health (DOH) yesterday launched a campaign to fight the two 
major causes of youth crime and build healthier campuses.

With the assistance of the MOI and DOH, the education ministry announced 
several strategies to fight campus violence and drug abuse, including the 
establishment of hotlines at the National Police Agency to report campus 
crimes, expanding the "anti-drug promotional lecture" tour and conducting 
urine screening on campus.

"While fighting campus violence and drug abuse is a joint effort by the 
three governmental units, the heaviest responsibility lies with the 
education ministry," said Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng.

"We [the education ministry] stand in the front line to provide preventive 
measures to educate our kids about the danger of drugs and violence. If we 
can prevent them from going astray, remedial measures by the MOI and DOH 
will be unnecessary," Tu said at a press conference to announce the campaign.

Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan promised back the education ministry 
in the battle against violence and drugs.

"Youth crime stems mostly from problematic family relationships. With more 
and more families losing the function of offering a support system for 
their children, schools are playing an important role to safeguard our 
children from getting hurt by drugs and violence," Su said.

"The National Police Agency has been working with the education ministry to 
eradicate illegal operations around campuses and set up crime-reporting 
systems with schools. We [the MOI] will continue offering backup forces to 
keep the youth away from drugs and campus violence," he said.

According to figures released by the education ministry, a total of 133 
students violated the Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control, last year. In 
addition, 656 cases of campus violence were reported last year.

Pan Hwai-tzong, one of the lecturers of the "anti-drug promotional lecture" 
tour, which started visiting elementary and junior-high school campuses in 
1997, said that, besides educating the youth about the danger of drugs, it 
is equally important to inform those who are already addicted to drugs 
about how to seek help.

"More and more young people use drugs nowadays, and the average age of drug 
addition is dropping to 12 or 13 years old. Usually they first take drugs 
out of innocence or after being seduced by their peers," said Pan, a 
pharmacology professor at the National Yang-Ming University.

"We focus on informing students about the harm drugs cause to people, and 
helping them to recognize different kinds of drugs. But I think it is 
crucial to encourage them to seek help," he said.

Pan said that addicts who seek help at rehabilitation centers will not run 
the risk of a criminal record, while selling drugs may lead to life in jail 
or even the death penalty.

"So we need to tell those young drug addicts not to be afraid of seeking 
assistance from their family, schools or rehabilitation centers, to let 
them know that they can choose to rebuild their lives before it's too 
late," Pan said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom