ALTERNATIVE METHOD LAUNCHED TO HELP ADDICTS KICK HABIT

The Tainan Prosecutor's Office has launched an experimental program
to offer suspended indictments to drug addicts on condition of
compulsory treatment, as part of efforts to reduce overall drug dependency.

Starting Sept. 1, the prosecutor's office will cooperate with the
government-run Chianan Psychiatric Center in southern Tainan County
in carrying out the experimental program as part of a nationwide drug
hazard reduction campaign.

Those intending to join the program should not be HIV-carriers,
addicted to heroin for more than a year or previous recipients of
rehabilitation treatment.

Prospective participants must first report to the Tainan Prosecutor's
Office to have their legal charges suspended. The Chianan Psychiatric
Center will then offer them psychological therapy and alternative treatment.

Under the alternative treatment, addicts have to make a daily visit
to the center to drink a dose of Methadone -- a substitute drug that
reduces dependency on more lethal drugs such as heroin and reduces
the risk of contracting diseases through hypodermic needle infections.

A dose of Methadone costs NT$70 at present, far cheaper than heroin,
which costs more than NT$10,000 per small dose. After the country
begins production of Methadone next year, the cost will be cut down to NT$20.

The Tainan Prosecutor's Office is the first local prosecution office
to adopt the experimental program.

"We have raised millions of dollars to finance the program and will
do our utmost to ensure its success and to encourage other
prosecutor's offices around the country to follow suit," a chief
prosecutor said, adding that the office has received many telephone
inquiries about the initiative.

As drug addiction has become a main source of Taiwan's AIDS/HIV
transmissions -- with two out of every three new HIV carriers being
intravenous drug users -- the Cabinet-level Department of Health
(DOH) has stepped up its drug-fighting efforts, including launching a
nationwide needle exchange project July 1.

DOH officials said they will offer all necessary support and
assistance to the Tainan Prosecutor's Office and the Chianan
Psychiatric Center to facilitate the implementation of the experimental program.