http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=92445&CtNode=39
Minister of Justice Morley Shih (施茂林) said on Wednesday that the ministry has no plans of amending the law to empower the agency to detain people who use ketamine and force them to undergo treatment.
Shih told the legislature's Judiciary Committee that the ministry did not consider ketamine -- a common, class-three drug that is used for medical purposes -- addictive and would not compel users to undergo treatment.
He said that a large number of recreational ketamine users were teenagers. If the ministry were to stipulate that using ketamine is a criminal offense, many teenagers would be violating the law and have criminal records, which would impact on their studies and lives.
Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) told the meeting that abuse of minor drugs was rampant among teens, and that youths frequently take class-three drugs like ketamine in pubs or at KTVs, which had detrimental effects on their health and personal relationships.
He urged the ministry to criminalize ketamine use to deter youths from taking class-three -- also called "minor" drugs.
The Narcotics Endangerment Prevention Act (毒品危害;防治條例) stipulates that selling or transporting drugs classified as class-three drugs is a criminal offense, but those caught using the drugs do not face criminal charges and cannot be forced to undergo treatment. Instead, minor drug users are fined.
Under the law, those arrested for using class-one drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, or class-two drugs, such as amphetamines and marijuana, must undergo treatment at a drug rehabilitation center for up to one month.
Those who are seriously addicted and fail a test after one month must undergo further treatment, lasting up to one year.
In other developments, Shih told the committee that investigation officers had used wiretapping in 24,700 cases in the first nine months of this year.
The cases, 70 percent of which involved drug-related criminal activities, include those handled by the Coast Guard Administration, the Bureau of Investigation, the National Police Agency and prosecutors, he said.
He made the remarks when he was asked to comment on a claim by a political commentator on a TV talk show that 4 million people are currently being wiretapped by the authorities.
Shih said he had no idea where the commentator got his figure from, but he pointed out that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office has established a complete monitoring mechanism to prevent the authorities from abusing their authority to wiretap.
--------------------
|