STUDENT DRUG CASES DECREASE

A total of 520 Taiwanese students were arrested for narcotics abuse
last year, with amphetamines and ecstasy being the most commonly used
drugs, according to official statistics released yesterday. Cases of
ketamine abuse have been increasing in recent years, the statistics
show. However, the number signifies a decrease in cases among students
compared with 2004 and 2003, when 602 and 594 cases respectively were
reported. The National Police Administration tallies were unveiled
during a conference for local education chiefs. Wang Fu-lin, head of
the Ministry of Education's Department of Military Training and
Education, said new drugs -- such as ecstasy, ketamine and nimetazepam
- -- are replacing heroin and amphetamine as the most commonly used
drugs among teenagers in Taiwan.