Of the 2,944 samples, 11 people tested positive for cannabis use (0.37 percent) and 34 people (1.15 percent) screened positive for ecstasy. An alarming 1,815 people (61.7 percent) tested positive for use of amphetamines.
Here again, the samples were taken from people in nightclubs, where the use of marijuana is not particularly rampant.
"I think most people who like to smoke marijuana stay home and sleep," the senior police officer said. "But we've been finding a lot more of it and so we'll be looking for it a lot more."
But where marijuana is now seen as a problem, it was once considered a solution. Kuo Chou-mei (郭周美) is a Chinese herbal pharmacist whose store on Minsheng West Road has been open since 1946. While marijuana isn't included among the 2,000-odd plants and minerals that Kuo keeps in stock, he says that it is nonetheless part of the traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia. The seeds of the plant were ground up to become a mild laxative for the elderly and the leaves were used as an early anti-depressant.
"Yes, attitudes towards marijuana have changed," Kuo said. "And they will continue to change. What's important is that young people realize that it is strong medicine."
While it's medicine for Kuo, for A-Xiang, marijuana is merchandise. He says his most popular items aren't pipes and bongs but the many pendants, pins and purses hanging in his case. He suspects this is partly because they're less expensive than the pipes, but also because the leaf signifies a rebelliousness that many young people are embracing.
"It's cool," he says simply.
He wraps up one such pendant for a young woman and includes his business card in the bag. Like his merchandise, it carries a glossy green pot leaf and the words, "Is Marijuana Really So Bad For Me?"
It's a question many Taiwanese are asking.
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