A Taiwanese prosecutor is calling on Ottawa to provide better co-operation and intelligence to help stop the flow of Canadian marijuana, after two massive busts in the Asian country earlier this year.

More than 70 kilograms of marijuana shipped from Vancouver were seized in April and June by Taiwanese customs at the Port of Keelung.

Seven Taiwanese were charged in the busts. However, the official says Taiwan has had no luck in getting information about the Canadian end of the situation.

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An American man committed suicide inside a courtroom in Taiwan after being given a four-year sentence. A witness and a hospital staff member describe what happened.

HONG KONG - An American man who had been convicted of growing marijuana in Taiwan killed himself in a courtroom after he was sentenced to a four-year prison term, according to court officials.

The man, Tyrel Martin Marhanka, 41, slashed his throat with a pair of scissors on Thursday, the Changhua District Court said in a written statement. He was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved.

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Drug trafficking on international flights is on the increase as more people turn to drugs as a source of revenue to help weather the economic slump, the airport police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said, citing flights to and from Southeast Asia as the most popular routes used to move drugs.

During the global economic downturn, airport drug enforcement agents said drug trafficking has increased at all levels of society, ranging from the super rich down to blue collar workers.

"People are very uncertain about their future, especially when it is becoming more difficult to earn a living," said an agent, speaking on condition of anonymity in an interview with the Central News Agency.

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The number of drug offenders rose sharply in the first 11 months of last year, mainly because of a sentence commutation program implemented in the second half of 2007, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said yesterday.

Ministry statistics showed that between January and November, courts convicted 37,700 people of narcotics-related offenses, up 52.1 percent from the same period in 2007.

The figures also show that 86.9 percent of the convicts were repeat offenders who had been released under the 2007 commutation program.

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Six out of every 100 seventh graders have tried drugs, according to a survey published yesterday. Yang Cheng-ping, secretary-general of the Champions Education Association, said in releasing the results of the survey he was shocked to find so many students have tried drugs.

Altogether 17,265 seventh graders were polled by the Champions Education Association.

Of them 6.1 percent admitted to using drugs at least once, Yang said. No tally of addicts was available.

Among the drugs used were ketamine and Ecstasy, Yang said. No hard drugs such as heroine were mentioned, he added.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Department of Health (DOH) is planning to expand the coverage of vending machines providing clean needles and syringes around the island in its bid to cut HIV/AIDS transmission, a health official said yesterday.

Yang Shih-yang, a section chief of the DOH Centers for Disease Control (CDC), made the remarks while reporting at a meeting of the Interior Committee of the Legislative Yuan on the feasibility of legislation on alternative treatment for drug abusers. Also in attendance were Interior Minister Lee Yi-yang and officials from the DOH, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency.

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Though discrimination and stigma run deep, Taiwanese activists and officials are pushing for greater awareness about HIV/AIDS to thwart an emerging epidemic

Thunderous applause erupts as Hank (his English name is used to protect his identity) finishes a speech about contracting and living with AIDS. A young man - one of more than 400 in attendance - wends his way through the lecture hall to shake Hank's hand, then embraces him in a bear hug. Over by the stage, young women line up to have their picture taken hugging Regan Hofmann, a guest speaker.

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The Taipei Customs Office (TPCO) yesterday announced it confiscated a total of 139,803 grams of illegal drugs and one million Hong Kong dollars in cash last month as part of their anti-smuggling campaign.

Among the list of confiscated drugs are 130,549 grams of ketamine, 8,191 grams of heroin, and 1,063 grams of marijuana.

Other smuggled products included four ivory tusk decorative items, 1,004 pairs of sunglasses, and 2,010 Viagra pills.

According to the TPCO, most of the contraband was hidden in secret compartments inside luggage or carry-on bags, shoe soles, or ingested by passengers as in the case of illegal drugs.

The TPCO said it is continuing to strengthen local and international cooperation in their anti-smuggling efforts to protect the public's health and safety.

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Cannabis smokers are unwittingly funding Islamist extremists linked to terror attacks in Spain, Morocco and Algeria, according to a joint investigation by the Spanish and French secret services. The finding will be seized on both by campaigners for a harsher clampdown on cannabis and by those who argue that legalization is the only way to end a petty dealing trend that is dragging growing numbers of teenagers into crime.

The investigation by the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia and the Renseignements Generaux was launched after Spanish police found that the Islamists behind the March 2004 bombings in Madrid bought their explosives from former miners in return for blocks of hashish. The bombings claimed 191 lives.

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If corrupt government officials have a negative effect on society, famous entertainers addicted to drugs are an even more adverse influence on social values.

At least seven well-known entertainers in Taiwan will have to go through mandatory drug rehabilitation now that they have tested positive for using prohibited drugs.

The news came as a shock because most of these entertainers are extremely popular personalities with a huge fan base. Their behavior has deeply hurt their admirers.

Prosecutor Wu Wen-cheng urged entertainers who have abused drugs to turn themselves in immediately and seek help, including going through rehabilitation at hospitals designated by the Department of Health.

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Prosecutors are casting a wider net after receiving reports that there were still more celebrities in Taiwan's entertainment community have been using illegal drugs.

The crackdown on drug abuse is expected to intensify in view of public response to the negative publicity caused by a group of entertainers who were tested positive for using prohibited drugs.

Government officials, including Premier Su Tseng-chang and Interior Minister Lee Yi-yang, have been exerting all efforts to hit hard on crimes, including drug smuggling and abuse, since Su took office and declared war on crimes early this year.

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The number of drug addicts in Taiwan suffering from AIDS has been growing rapidly in recent years, prompting law enforcement authorities to step up a crackdown on drug trafficking, prosecutors said yesterday.

The number of addicts infected with AIDS began increasing sharply in 2003, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Justice. In 2004, there were 544 reported cases around the island, a seven-fold growth over the 2003 level and exceeding the combination of the aggregate number posted during the 1998-2003 period.

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The Tainan Prosecutor's Office has launched an experimental program to offer suspended indictments to drug addicts on condition of compulsory treatment, as part of efforts to reduce overall drug dependency.

Starting Sept. 1, the prosecutor's office will cooperate with the government-run Chianan Psychiatric Center in southern Tainan County in carrying out the experimental program as part of a nationwide drug hazard reduction campaign.

Those intending to join the program should not be HIV-carriers, addicted to heroin for more than a year or previous recipients of rehabilitation treatment.

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Reducing Harm: The plan aims to help addicts through substitute drugs and rehabilitation and will be implemented nationwide on July 1

The Department of Health is expected to broaden the scope of its Harm Reduction Program for drug addicts starting on July 1, supported by the Cabinet's allocation of NT$81 million (US$2.5 million) from its second reserved budget.

The Harm Reduction Program will include a clean-needle project, expand HIV examination and offer substitute treatment for drug addicts.

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A total of 520 Taiwanese students were arrested for narcotics abuse last year, with amphetamines and ecstasy being the most commonly used drugs, according to official statistics released yesterday. Cases of ketamine abuse have been increasing in recent years, the statistics show. However, the number signifies a decrease in cases among students compared with 2004 and 2003, when 602 and 594 cases respectively were reported. The National Police Administration tallies were unveiled during a conference for local education chiefs. Wang Fu-lin, head of the Ministry of Education's Department of Military Training and Education, said new drugs -- such as ecstasy, ketamine and nimetazepam - -- are replacing heroin and amphetamine as the most commonly used drugs among teenagers in Taiwan.

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Crackdown: Those Caught Taking Minor Drugs Such As Ketamine And Ecstasy Could Soon Face Detention and Forced Treatment at One Of Several Centers Around the Nation

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is amending a law which will enable the agency to detain people who use minor drugs and force them to undergo treatment.

"The proposed amendment will help teenagers and youths give up taking minor drugs such as ketamine, MDMA [ecstasy] or flunitrazepam frequently used in pubs or KTVs, and also be a punishment to deter people from using these kinds of drugs," Vice Minister of Justice Wang Tian-sheng said.

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Urgent measures are needed to combat the rise in drug abuse and related HIV infections, government officials said yesterday. They said that drug-use prevention measures should start in the schools, to target youth at an early age.

According to Wang Guo-Long, deputy director of the department of military training education in the Ministry of Education (MOE), the amount of drugs discovered by criminal investigative bodies this year was 12,728kg, compared to 8,597kg last year and 8,428kg in 2003, showing the growing seriousness of the problem.

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A Port Moody couple was waiting Tuesday to hear from their son, Mathieu James Forand, who is facing a possible death penalty in Taiwan after his arrest Friday on drug-trafficking charges.

According to media reports from Vancouver and Taiwan, the 28-year-old English teacher was arrested by police during a drug bust that allegedly involved quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana found in Forand's Taipei apartment.

Drug crimes, under Taiwanese law, are subject to capital punishment, and the prosecution is reportedly seeking the death penalty or 25 years in prison.

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B.C. Man Accused Of Drug Offences

A B.C. teacher facing the death penalty in Taiwan over drug charges has received a visit from a Canadian official, but there's little Canada can do to help him.

Mathieu Forand, 28, was arrested Friday night in a raid at his Taipei apartment. Authorities allege he was found with cocaine, ecstacy and marijuana.

Friends of Forand in Taiwan said he was allegedly found with one to five kilograms of cocaine.

Drug crimes are subject to capital punishment in Taiwan, although the nation is phasing out the death penalty.

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Taiwan's first needle exchange program, (exchanging non-sterile drug injection equipment for sterile materials) is scheduled to start tomorrow. It failed to get off the ground last month, and without support from the Ministry of Justice and NGOs, critics questions whether it will ever fully materialize.

Despite overwhelming international evidence that HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection rates among intravenous drug users can be reduced with comprehensive needle exchange programs (NEP), harm reduction efforts in Taiwan are being thwarted by a judicial system and public that stigmatizes easy access to injection equipment, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

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