A survey conducted by the Department of Health has shown that at least 210,000 people aged between 12 and 64 use recreational drugs.
The health authority added that these figures are very conservative, and the real number is likely to be much higher.
The survey, conducted late last year, was the first of its kind to be held on a national level and had a total of 23,170 respondents.
More women users
According to Chien Chun-sheng (
One particularly interesting revelation that came out of the survey was the increase in the number of women using narcotic drugs: Ten years ago the ratio of male to female users was 8:1, compared to the current ratio of 2.8:1.
Chien said that the survey suggested that amphetamines were the most commonly used drugs, followed by ecstacy, ketamine and marijuana, in that order. This can be compared with the types of drugs seized in raids and police operations during the last year, the four most common being the ingredients for making amphetamines, amphetamines themselves, ketamine and nimetazepam.
The national bureau pointed out that the respondents of this survey were members of the public and as such were likely to give relatively cautious answers to questions regarding the sensitive issue of drug use, with some refusing to answer at all. When asked whether family, friends or acquaintances used drugs, 3.5 percent of respondents said yes.
High-risk group
According to Chien, approximately 140,000 of the respondents claiming to use recreational drugs fell into the 18-34 age group, which is considered the high-risk group.
A worrying statistic is that more than 55 percent of respondents aged between 12 and 34 said they considered drugs to be easily attainable and that their first instance of drug use was in the houses of friends, classmates or colleagues.
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