Accompanied by three former heroin addicts, Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) yesterday encouraged drug addicts to participate in the government's methadone program.
“Approximately 12,000 heroin addicts are now taking methadone. We hope to encourage more to do so,” Yeh told a press conference at the DOH.
Yeh said that he had invited the three former addicts — Huang (黃), Hsiao-ju (小如) and Yang (楊) — to share their experiences as many heroin addicts did not believe that methadone works despite the government's efforts at promoting the program.
“This program helps heroin addicts quit drugs and live a normal life. They are like sick people who are taking medicine. I am sick as well. I take medication for high blood pressure every day,” Yeh said.
The three patients were from the DOH's Taoyuan Mental Hospital, where they are participating in the methadone program.
Huang, 42, who has been taking methadone for more than two years, said that he had been on heroin for more than a decade and spent more than NT$1 million on it. After being released from Hsinchu Prison after serving time for drug-related charges in April 2006, a friend suggested he try methadone.
“The best thing about methadone is that you do not feel the pain of quitting heroin. It's just like taking medicine,” Huang said. “You can lead a normal life, have a job and a family.”
Huang said he is now helping out with the family business while looking for a full-time job.
Hsiao-ju, 27, said that she began by taking amphetamines.
“I was in the escort business when I was 17 and I wanted to get slimmer,” she said. “But my husband and I ended up on heroin and I continued until I was 24.”
She said she had been on methadone for more than a year and is working a regular job at the moment.
Yang, 31, was jailed between 2006 and 2007 on drug charges. He began his methadone rehabilitation in July 2007. He now works as a gardener and says he is satisfied with what he has.
“I spend about NT$3,000 per month on methadone but it is worth every penny,” he said.
Taoyuan Mental Hospital attending psychiatrist Chou Sun-yuan (周孫元) suggested that patients who join the program take methadone for one to three years.
“Patients also have to report to the hospital every day, because methadone is prohibited and one dose only lasts for 24 hours,” Chou said.
Overdoses of methadone can be dangerous as it can cause difficulty breathing, Chou said, adding that constipation is a major side effect.
Yeh said that the DOH would look for additional funding to help more heroin addicts join the program.
“By helping them, we are also helping reduce the number of new AIDS cases,” Yeh said.
He said that addicts could seek help at 77 hospitals nationwide or call 0800-770-885 for information.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS