CAUGHT IN THE DRAGNET

Taiwan's Nascent Drug Policies Are Being Taken To Task As The Number Of
Arrests And Seizures Of Illicit Substances Increases Each Year

To pick out users, police have resorted to screening suspected drug users
through urine tests and, at least in parts of Taipei, blood tests that look
for both drugs and HIV. While the legality of urine tests is debatable, the
police's authority to screen for HIV could only be described by John Chang,
chief prosecutor of Taoyuan County, as an "administrative decision that is
something separate from the law."

"Do you want to protect human rights or protect health? This is the problem
under consideration," said Ou Nai-ming, head of an AIDS section at the
national Center for Disease Control (CDC). In April and May of this year,
his section worked with the National Police Administration and Taipei
City's Bureau of Health to come up with a plan that has resulted in HIV
screening of suspected drug users throughout the summer. Generally, the
suspects are picked up in raids on nightclubs where drugs are discovered,
and the CDC uses the data to formulate recommendations on AIDS prevention
policy.

However according to Li Jih-heng, director-general of the National Bureau
of Controlled Drugs (NBCD), the blood tests are not strictly legal. He says
that Taiwan's Statute on AIDS Prevention and Treatment says that "it must
be completely determined that the person is a drug user" before he or she
can be made to test for HIV. But what the police are doing now is testing
suspects. "Legally, this doesn't really stand up. It would be better to
first determine whether a person uses drugs, then do it [test for HIV]. ...
If the [urine] test is positive [for drugs], then you can do a blood test,"
he said.

Urine tests have been more common. In June, police throughout Taiwan
collected 4,705 urine samples from suspected drug users, of which 558 came
back positive for MDMA. Such testing is supported in certain situations by
law. The Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control, Taiwan's major law
addressing illegal drugs, states that those found to be drug users can be
made to provide urine samples, while other laws allow that urine tests can
be demanded when there is sufficient evidence to create suspicion.

"The law is not clear in this area [of 'suspicion'], but I think that if
the police do not find drugs or evidence of drugs on a person or in his
belongings, the person can refuse the test," Chang said.

In recent months, many enforcement authorities have adopted interpretations
similar to Chang's, but not all. "Different judges might make different
rulings on this," said Chang. "It's on a case-by- case basis."

In Jonas' case, possession of drug paraphernalia gave police enough
suspicion to demand a urine test. It resulted in his being processed into
the Tucheng Corrections Center, where he was first stripped and searched,
then given a second urine test and put into a large cell with more than a
dozen other new arrivals.

"There were no beds, you just sleep on the floor. In the daytime, you
aren't allowed to lie down, but you can't move around very much because
it's too crowded in there. If you want anything, like a blanket, you have
to buy it," he said.

"After a week, they transferred me, and because my family paid an extra
[NT$] five thousand, they put me in a 'VIP' room on the third floor. There
you had a lot more chances to buy things from the guards, like a Walkman or
an electric fan, but it was expensive. One guy had a small TV, and we even
had one cigarette lighter for our cell. Lighters or matches weren't allowed
in most other cells, so they had this way of lighting cigarettes with
[regular lead-acid] batteries."

"It was a weird experience to lose your freedom, and it was also strange
because they would never tell you how long you were going to stay.
Occasionally I would meet with some doctors, and they had the power to
decide how long you stayed, but you'd only meet with them for a few
minutes, and they'd ask really normal questions, like 'How's your family
situation?' or 'Do you have a girlfriend?' Some people were really worried
that they weren't going to get out. Other guys had been there for more than
two months."

According to Taiwan's law, a drug user is considered a criminal. But to
give users a chance to rehabilitate before being branded as full- fledged
felons, the corrections center program was introduced in May of 1998. It
uses a "three strikes" program which sends users for 15 to 30-day stays in
corrections centers after their first two offences, though center officials
admit that some inmates stay longer. On the third offence, a user will be
indicted for drug abuse and, if found guilty, sentenced to prison.

Historically, the program fits into a drug intervention policy that has
predominantly focused on drug users. According to Wang Chih-chao, a
detective with the Criminal Investigations Bureau, the general practice is
to "start with the user, asking them where they got their drugs. From there
we trace the network up."

In 2001, Taiwan's courts handed back 13,511 guilty verdicts for drug
crimes. Of the total, 11,399 were for "pure abuse," a crime that involves
using illegal drugs only, and 7,209 were for "abuse" of class 2 drugs, a
category including amphetamines, MDMA and marijuana. The 2,112 convictions
in 2001 that weren't for abuse, included possession, sales and transport of
illegal drugs.

From a prosecutor's perspective, Chang says the kinds of drug cases coming
through the courts have been changing. "It used to be amphetamines, now
it's MDMA, ketamine and some marijuana," he said.

At the NBCD, Li has also observed the trend, noting how marijuana has
picked up slightly in recent years, and how MDMA seizures by police have
grown from around 3kg in all of 2000 to 40.3kg in the first half of this
year. "Ecstasy is a relatively new drug. It has only been in Taiwan three
or four years and is growing rapidly, and what's worrisome is that it's
attracting a new kind of user, especially students," he said.

A recent study by the Taipei City Psychiatric Center, which researches
patterns of drug use and tests many of the urine samples collected by
Taipei City Police, describes how ecstasy is attracting new groups of
users. The study found that more women and more students are using ecstasy,
each group accounting for approximately one-third of the sample. The study
also showed that ecstasy users were almost exclusively unmarried and
averaged 22 years of age, with a wider spread of users ranging between 16
and 37 years of age.

Moreover, "there is not much connection between groups of MDMA users and
the more established amphetamines and heroin users. They tend to use daily
and don't hang around in nightclubs. For example, people who smoke
methamphetamines [also known as crystal meth, or ice] need a glass pipe,
and you can't do that in a disco," Li said.

Police and politicians have reacted to this new, younger and more diverse
crowd of drug users through raids on a massive scale. On one Saturday night
in June, 6,263 police officers were mobilized to seek out ecstasy in more
than 2,500 night spots throughout Taiwan.

Yet quantitatively, the amounts of MDMA turned up have been relatively
small. The June raid turned up only 480 users and 354 pills, and the 40.3kg
hauled in nationally between January and June of this year is still less
than one-tenth the 422kg of amphetamines and one-eighth the 331kg of heroin
collected by police in the same period.

Yet Li reiterates that "the problem with MDMA is that so many young people
are using it, and that is worrying to a lot of parents." And Jonas, who has
a 23-year-old little sister that recently finished college, agrees.

"In schools, if you're in some social groups, you have to use it, or you'll
be excluded," he says. "And you can get it in every school, because there
are always the gangsters there selling it. So I think it's good that they
are cracking down, but I don't think they should be sending those kids into
the Corrections Center. That's for real criminals."

His own stay there lasted 28 days, and though he continues to smoke
marijuana, he has no intention of going back.

Taiwan's Top Drugs (based on police seizures from January through June 2002):

1. Amphetamines: 422,661g 2. Heroin: 331,681g 3. MDMA: 40,361g 4. Ketamine:
8,162g 5. Cannabis: 2,515g

History of police seizures of MDMA: 1998: 70g 1999: 3,250g 2000: 4,927g
2001: 44,650g January-June 2002: 40,361g

History of police seizures of ketamine: 2000: - 2001: 9,540g 2002 (first
six months): 8,162g

Results of urine tests given to suspected drug users from June 2002: Total
tests: 4,705 Positive for opiates: 929 Positive for amphetamines: 692
Positive for MDMA: 558

Types of drug cases in 2000: Total cases: 49,797 Abuse only (ie, using
drugs only): 40,700 Possession: 4,330 Sale: 3,524 Possession with intent to
sell: 560 Importation or transportation: 129 Manufacture or cultivation: 27

Prison terms handed out for drug crimes in 2001: Total guilty verdicts:
13,511 Less than 6 months: 41.87% Less than 3 years: 93.1% 7 years or more:
4.1%

Death penalties for drug crimes from 1993 through 2001: 12 (1 in 2001)

Taiwan's Drug Laws

The Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control, last amended Jan. 23 of ths year
by the Legislative Yuan, stands as Taiwan's major law dealing with drug
related crimes. It divides narcotics into three schedules:

Schedule 1 lists nine drugs, including cocaine, morphine, heroin, opium and
other opiates.

Schedule 2 lists 167 drugs, including various forms of marijuana, MDMA or
ecstasy, amphetamines, methamphetamines, LSD, psylosibin mushrooms and others.

Schedule 3 lists 19 drugs, mostly prescription pain killers and muscle
relaxers, including barbiturates, codeine and ketamine.

Penalties for selected drug crimes are as follows:

Manufacture, transport or sale: Class 1 - Death or life imprisonment Class
2 - 7 years to life Class 3 - Minimum 5 years

Possession with intent to sell*: Class 1 - 10 years to life Class 2 -
Minimum 5 years Class 3 - 3 to 10 years

Possession*: Class 1 - Maximum 3 years Class 2 - Maximum 2 years Class 3 - N/A

Cultivation of cannabis: Class 1 - N/A Class 2 - Minimum 5 years Class 3 - N/A

Use: Class 1 - 6 months to 5 years Class 2 - Maximum 3 years Class 3 - N/A

Manufacture, transport or sale of drug paraphernalia: Class 1 - 1-7 years
Class 2 - 1-7 years Class 3 - 1-7 years

*According to authorities, the difference between possession and possession
with intent to sell is not determined by the amount of a drug in the
offender's possession, as in many other countries, but by "intent."
"Intent" is proven in court by the testimony of witnesses and evidence such
as packaging materials, large amounts of cash and recorded conversations.

According to current policy, first and second-offense users are not
prosecuted. Instead, they are sent to a type of jail called a Corrections
Center (AE[1i C?U(c)O), where they are held for 15 to 30 days. At the end
of 30 days, if they are found to be addicts, they can be detained for up to
one year.

Urine Tests: Urine collected from suspected drug users is always tested for
amphetamines (including MDMA) and usually for opiates. Tests are made for
other drugs in certain situations. The Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control
(NHC) states that if there is a factual basis for suspicion of drug use, a
urine sample can be taken from a suspect within 24 hours. If the suspect
does not cooperate, he or she can be forcibly compelled to provide a
sample. Recently, there has been some debate as to the legality of forcing
suspects to provide urine samples. Some have argued that the NHC provision
is unconstitutional or conflicts with laws protecting civil rights.
Officers at Taipei's Ta-an precinct recently told the Taipei Times that
their current practice is to only test suspects found within one or two
meters of drugs. Other precincts, like Sungshan, have continued to
administer wholesale urine testing of club-goers.

Blood tests: Testing blood samples of suspected drug users for HIV is a
common practice by the police, though many believe it to be illegal. As
with urine tests, implementation varies from precinct to precinct.

The Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control can be found in its original
Chinese on the Internet at: http://www.nbcd.gov.tw/law/law_01.asp

Foreign nationals' brushes with the law

South African male resident of Taipei was arrested on July 17 for
cultivating marijuana. Police claimed that they discovered the crime by
happenstance as the man was growing the plants on the balcony of his Neihu
apartment. Accompanied by television cameras and a search warrant, police
stormed the man's apartment, collecting two mature plants and 4.2g of dried
marijuana. The man is now awaiting trial.

An American male living in Pingtung County was arrested on July 25 for
cultivating marijuana after police found 18 young plants outside the man's
home. Police recorded the raid with a video camera and later provided the
footage to a national cable network. The man is currently awaiting trial.

Since mid-July, Taitung police have harassed a number of foreign English
teachers living locally, accusing them of drug use and trafficking. A South
African male targeted by the inquiries has had his residence searched and
was requested by police to provide a urine sample. As the police had no
evidence to suspect him of drug use, he refused. He has, however, been
charged with forging a college diploma in order to work as an English
teacher and currently awaits trial on NT$30,000 bond. Those familiar with
the case allege that a jealous lover provided false information that led to
the police investigation.

An American male English teacher fled the country on Dec. 24, 2001, one day
after being tested for drugs in a police raid on a Taipei nightclub. "He
told me he took like four pills [of ecstasy], so he didn't even wait for
the results to come back, he just split," said a friend of the man.