CNA , Taipei - Minister of Justice Shih Mao-lin said yesterday police officers should do more to crack down on drug trafficking and use because such offenses have been closely associated with other criminal activities.

Shih made the remarks while attending a "drug-free homeland" activity organized by the Taipei Prosecutor's Office to mark the June 26 International Anti-Drug Day.

In 2003 and last year, Shih said, more than 8,400kg of contraband drugs were seized around the country. Worse still, he said, 30-plus amphetamine producing facilities were discovered during the same period, indicating that amphetamine production has gradually moved back to Taiwan from China.

[continues 302 words]

Taiwan's health authorities said Sunday they were considering providing drug users with access to sterile syringes, since needle sharing rather than sex is now the leading mode of HIV infection on the island. Under the harm-reduction program, "police may no longer follow the drug users who buy needles and injection equipment from drug stores," said Tsai Shu-fen, an official with Thailand's Centers for Disease Control. Implementation of the measure by local governments may vary, Tsai said, and the program would be started on a trial basis after further discussions among relevant government agencies.

[continues 139 words]

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.

[continues 439 words]

Gradual Phase-Out: Activists Said Changes To The Criminal Code That Rule Out Capital Punishment For Those Under 18 Or Over 80 Are A Step In The Right Direction

A group opposed to the death penalty commended yesterday's overhaul of the Criminal Code through a law amendment aimed at gradually abolishing the death penalty. The groups also urged for the strengthening of correctional counseling to inmates.

Yesterday's final reading of the Criminal Code amendment abolished the death penalty for individuals under the age of 18 or over the age of 80.

[continues 294 words]

'Narcotic Culture' By Frank Dikotter Takes A Fresh Look At The Usual Take On History That Suggests The Use Of Opium By The Chinese Was Entirely Negative

Opium has always been associated, for better or worse, with China. And almost invariably it's been for the worse.

The myth, in both the Christian West and the communist East, has been that this pernicious substance was brought to the Celestial Empire by the perfidious British, forced onto a gullible people, and as a result accelerated the decline of a once-great nation.

[continues 904 words]

While authorities say it's not as popular as amphetamines, ecstasy or even heroin, marijuana is finding its share of users among Taiwanese and even spawning a cottage industry

Taipei's Shilin night market is known for stocking just about every item you'd ever need. But now there is a line of products on offer that few Taiwanese have ever needed before: bongs and pipes and widgets and wallets emblazoned with bright green pot leaves. The place where they're being sold is turning more than a few curious heads and - -- more to the point -- its owner is turning a handsome profit.

[continues 1516 words]

A Taoyuan policeman was convicted of dope trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday.

Ma Chang-sheng, 43, of Taoyuan, was not given a death sentence the prosecution had requested.

A Nantou district court judge did not explain why he did not hand down the sentence as requested on last April 29.

In a written verdict, the judge imposed a fine of NT$10 million on Ma, a public safety patrolman at Taoyuan.

Su Tan, a 30-year-old common law wife of the policeman, was convicted of collaboration and given a sentence of ten years in prison.

[continues 78 words]

Chang Shu-Yuan, Dean Of Operation Dawn's Counseling Department

The local Christian church Operation Dawn, together with Friends of Hsing Lin Tzu (FHLT), yesterday launched a support group and hotline for drug addicts' families in the hope of helping families and addicts recover from the damage done by drugs.

Parents seeking help for their drug-addicted children can call the hot line on 02-223-1774.

"The hot line and counseling services offered by Operation Dawn is mainly faith-based. The counselors are professionally trained in theology, and they have basic training in psychology, too," said the dean of the church's counseling department, Chang Shu-yuan ( i'Q'D).

[continues 257 words]

Major kudos to Emma Bonino for her outstanding article ("It's time for a ceasefire in the largely ignored war on drugs," April 16, page 9). However, the war on drugs has not been ignored on this side of the globe.

The war on drugs has transformed the former "Land of Liberty"into the most incarcerated nation in history. With less than 5 percent of the world's population, the US has greater than 25 percent of the world's prisoners, thanks primarily to our counter-productive war on certain (politically selected) drugs.

[continues 92 words]

The world must develop a different approach to combating narcotics trafficking before we all become addicted to the UN's failed strategy of prohibition By Emma Bonino

Wednesday, Apr 16, 2003,Page 9 The world's attention has been focused on the war on Iraq. But another war -- this one UN-sanctioned -- has been going on simultaneously -- the war on drugs. In my view, every sensible person should want this largely ignored war to end as well. While the UN should play a role in leading Iraq toward a free and democratic society, it must also change dramatically its own course in the war on drugs and lead the world to a saner policy.

[continues 743 words]

The US State Department's recent assessment of Taiwan's cooperation in the drug war is a clear indicator that the US government uses its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe ("US reports on laundering crimes, drugs in Taiwan," Mar. 3, page 4). The tough-on-some-drugs approach is a proven failure.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated. Police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools, and random drug testing have led to a loss of civil liberties in the US, while failing miserably at preventing drug use.

[continues 121 words]

Despite recent strides in fighting money laundering tied to international crime and drug trafficking, Taiwan is still vulnerably to illicit laundering operations and remains an area of concern to US law enforcement officials, a State Depart-ment report issued Saturday says.

The report, covering developments from last year, details drug trafficking and money laundering in some 185 countries worldwide.

While Taiwan gained high marks for its efforts to reduce the trafficking of narcotics destined for the US, it remained on a list of 53 major money laundering countries that included such countries as China, France, Germany, Britain, Japan and the US itself plus Hong Kong. That makes it a "jurisdiction of primary concern" over laundering, according to the report.

[continues 434 words]

The owner of a bird-feed shop in southern Taiwan was arrested for selling marijuana seeds in the guise of pigeon feed, the Coast Guard Administration said yesterday.

Administration law enforcement agents raided a feed shop in Luchu, Kaohsiung County Friday afternoon and arrested the owner, Chuang Yung- sen, 49, and seized 39.8kg of marijuana seeds.

Police said that the seizure was the largest in years. The seeds, if germinated, could yield a profit of about NT$4 billion (US$116 million), they added.

[continues 287 words]

COOPERATION: Officials from the US Drug Enforcement Administration are meeting with local law enforcement to help them improve their skills in hunting down dealers

The first joint Taiwan-US drug enforcement workshop kicked off yesterday in Taipei, following a groundbreaking agreement signed in March.

The four-day 2002 Drug Enforcement Work Training Seminar, held by the Bureau of Investigation and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), runs until Friday. During the seminar, DEA Hong Kong Country Office Chief Thomas Ma ( "((BAM) and a team of four officials from Washington will share their experiences in drug enforcement with local law enforcement authorities.

[continues 388 words]

Taiwan's Nascent Drug Policies Are Being Taken To Task As The Number Of Arrests And Seizures Of Illicit Substances Increases Each Year

To pick out users, police have resorted to screening suspected drug users through urine tests and, at least in parts of Taipei, blood tests that look for both drugs and HIV. While the legality of urine tests is debatable, the police's authority to screen for HIV could only be described by John Chang, chief prosecutor of Taoyuan County, as an "administrative decision that is something separate from the law."

[continues 2370 words]

Taiwanese criminal investigators believe a North Korean naval gunboat helped supply local drug smugglers with 79kg of heroin that was seized in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday.

The indications of a North Korean military link in the smuggling operation uncovered by the Taiwanese authorities will fuel suspicions that Pyongyang is tolerating and even encouraging involvement in international crime, as a way of earning scarce foreign currency.

News of the case broke after investigators on Tuesday arrested nine suspects at a northern Taiwanese port and seized 198 packets of heroin with a street value of around T$200m ( 6m).

[continues 244 words]

I found your article featuring Wang Shih-Chien criticizing Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's crackdown on ecstasy ("Councilor shaking his head over Ma's ecstacy crackdown," April 9, page 1) interesting. I like to go out dance in nightclubs (without using drugs) and I have witnessed Ma's tactics and am also very critical of them.

On Christmas weekend, police raided a popular club and took all 300 people there down to the police station for urine testing. These people appeared on national television, had their faces on the front page of your paper the next day, and had to wait up to 10 hours at the police station on a Sunday morning for urine tests, when they probably really needed a good sleep.

[continues 245 words]

Drug Madness: According To Wang Shih-chien, It's Not Difficult To Score The 'Head-Shake Pill' In Taipei, And The Mayor Has Done Little To Combat The Problem

Despite his promises, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou hasn't done enough to rid the city of ecstasy, a city councilor alleged yesterday.

"Ma says he's determined to eliminate ecstasy from the city," Wang Shih-chien, DPP city councilor, said yesterday. "But how much has he really accomplished."

Wang said that ecstasy has continued to grow in popularity among teenagers, despite Ma's pledge two years ago to "make ecstasy disappear from the city."

[continues 383 words]

From Washington's Point Of View A Lot Has Improved In Its "Backyard" But It's Too Early To Start Celebrating

US President George W. Bush, the world now realizes, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

World events, everything from the political composition of the US Supreme Court, from terrorism to the US economy seem to have a preordained way of working in his electoral favor. Again it is happening with Latin America. By rights the chickens should be coming home to roost as Bush girds up for his visit to Mexico, Peru and Central America but, in fact, Argentina apart, the tides, both political and economic, appear to be working in his favor. Just the other day the IMF issued a report saying that Latin America was "set for recovery," likely to benefit from lower financing costs, higher commodities and an expected rebound in the US economy, with a projected growth by the end of the year of 4 percent (excluding Argentina).

[continues 817 words]

PUBLIC AWARENESS: The vice minister of health said yesterday that drug abuse by the nation's youth was rising and more illegal intoxicants are gaining currency

The Department of Health warned yesterday that drug abuse among the nation's youth is on the rise.

"There are many indications that the number of young people abusing substances in our country is on the increase and there are always new substances being abused," Yang Han-chuan (."o~-u), vice minister of health, said at a press conference.

[continues 444 words]