Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Shih made the remarks while attending a ceremony to mark the launch of a drug prevention center under the Tainan County Bureau of Health.
Shih said that more than half of the around 62,000 inmates in nearly 50 penitentiaries nationwide were drug addicts.
Major crimes in recent years were "more or less" related to drugs, Shih added.
The minister said that the recidivism rate among drug addicts was high and police have difficulty preventing them from repeat offenses.
He noted that the government started a pilot program in Taipei City and in Taipei, Taoyuan and Tainan counties last year treating drug addicts as patients rather than criminals.
The drug addicts are given clean needles and alternative drugs to help them overcome their addictions.
He said that the program had achieved good results in Tainan County, reducing the HIV/AIDS infection rate by 50 percent.
As such, the drug prevention centers would be expanded to other cities and counties starting this month, he said.
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
Garbage and recycling schedules are to vary from Saturday through Sunday next week over the Lunar New Year holiday period. The following collection information is from the governments of the six special municipalities. Taipei Regular service: Sunday to Monday next week. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Extra service: Friday next week. Regular service resumes: Saturday next week. New Taipei City Extra service: Sunday. Adjusted collection time: Monday next week — garbage collection is to begin in the morning and end at 6pm. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Regular service resumes: Friday next week. Note: Garbage can be dropped off at 70
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