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 (王添盛) said.
Wang said drug use by teenagers and youths is rampant.
The new law will be approved and put into practice next year, Wang added.
According to the Violation of the Narcotics Endangerment Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例), while selling or transporting third-class, or minor, drugs is a criminal offense, those who caught using minor drugs do not face criminal charges and cannot be forced to undergo treatment for drug abuse.
"The MOJ found that minor drugs frequently taken in pubs and KTVs have caused health and social problems among teenagers and youths, so the [government] decided to send them to the MOJ's drug abstention and treatment centers, which are charged with detaining drug abusers and giving them forced treatment," the vice minister said.
Wang added that students would be suspended from their studies if they receive treatment for narcotics abuse.
Wang said that to house the drug users, four drug abstention and treatment centers in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taitung would be opened on Jan.1, which will be able to accommodate more than 4,000 people.
The new centers will be "hospitalized," meaning that medical care will be offered to help users give up drugs, Wang added.
Under the current law, those arrested for using "first-class" drugs such as heroin and cocaine, or "second-class" drugs such as amphetamines and marijuana, must undergo narcotic treatment at drug abstention and treatment centers for a maximum of one month. Those who are seriously addicted and fail an exam after the one-month treatment must undergo a second treatment, lasting up to a maximum of one year.
The vice minister said that in the proposed amendment the MOJ has suggested extending the one-month limit on treatment to two-months, and the one-year treatment to three-years.
He said that more than 3,600 people are currently receiving narcotic treatment at centers at 19 detention houses and 18 Juvenile Detention and Classification Houses nationwide.
The current law stipulates that those who've received narcotic treatments one or two times and are arrested again for drug use will be charged under criminal law.
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