Doctors address treating drug addiction amid campaign controversy
Doctors address treating drug addiction amid campaign controversy
2026-10-15
Incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has been targeting his opponent Puma Shen by attacking a drug policy he wrote 12 years ago. However, as argued, data show that prescribing drug users methadone and providing them with clean needles has effectively reduced reoffending rates. Doctors also note that patients must undergo strict screening before being prescribed methadone.
Drugs have become a political battleground in Taiwan.
Chiang Wan-an
Taipei Mayor
Legislator Shen advocates for handing out drugs and needles at community centers.
Puma Shen
Taipei mayoral candidate (DPP)
This amounts to outright stigmatization. I will take legal action because this is purely spreading false rumors.
Medically speaking, what’s the best treatment for drug addiction? One former drug addict, Hsiao Tzu, spent time at a rehab center. Her depression and hopelessness fed her addiction.
Hsiao Tzu
Recovering drug addict
I was mentally addicted, not physically. I really wanted to use drugs when I was sad. If I couldn’t sleep, I would use.
But quitting a drug addiction is extremely challenging. Looking back on past drug cases, the rate of relapse is astoundingly high.
Lin Min-chieh
Criminology professor
Because the body gets addicted to drugs, people may think that someone can quit in seven to 10 days. But some addictions aren’t so easy to quit, and they’re psychological. If you detain a person for three or five days, or even six months, the first thing they do when they get out is use.
Ministry of Justice data shows that in 2005, about 50% of all inmates were imprisoned for drug use, and 70% of them relapsed within two years. That year, Taipei launched a program to treat drug addiction with methadone and provide clean needles. More recent data shows that now only 24.8% of inmates are imprisoned for drug use, and the relapse rate has dropped to around 35%. From 2023 through June this year, Taipei issued over 930,000 clean needles, and four hospitals in the city have been providing methadone treatment.
Huang Ming-chyi
Taipei City Hospital Songde branch director
Access to methadone at the pharmacy window is strictly controlled. We use facial recognition to verify patients’ identities when they arrive. The medication is colored, so we check their mouths to make sure they’ve swallowed it.
Medical professionals emphasize that drug harm reduction programs do not encourage or condone drug use. They urge these policies not to be taken out of context or be used as a political campaign tool.
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#drug #druguse #drugaddiction #addiction #relapse #treatment #rehab #Taipei #campaign #TaipeiMayor #election
選戰外"毒癮戒治"解方在哪? 醫師:"減害"降低再犯
2026-10-15
民進黨台北市長候選人沈伯洋，12年前一篇關於「毒品減害政策」的舊文，被現任台北市長蔣萬安陣營，拿來發動猛烈攻擊。不過，回歸到專業醫學治療，目前政府提供的美沙冬療法、以及提供清潔針具，有效降低再犯率，醫師也說，要患者服用美沙冬，其實也得嚴格把關。
反毒是世界共識，在台灣，卻演變成 選戰的政治攻防。
[[台北市長 蔣萬安]]
"沈委員主張要在社區中心發放毒品跟針頭。"
[[台北市長參選人(民) 沈伯洋]]
"這等於是完全的一個汙名化，會來採取法律行動，因為這已經是純然的一個造謠。"
回歸醫療專業，毒癮戒治的解方在哪裡？她是小慈，曾經的 叛逆少女，是藥物成癮 中途之家的住民，因為對生命的失落、與絕望，讓她就此沉溺毒海。
[[藥物成癮中途之家住民 小慈]]
“我的上癮是心理上癮，而不是生理，那時候難過的時候，特別想要吃毒，如果沒有睡著的時間，我都在吃毒。”
只是說，真的有可能說戒就戒得斷毒癮嗎？回顧過去至今，層出不窮的 毒品案件，吸毒的再犯比率，高得驚人。
[[中正大學犯罪防治學系教授 林明傑]]
“因為毒品的身體癮，可能大家都認為說他只要10天 7天就可以解決，但是其實有些癮不一定那麼好解決，是心癮的部分。你給他關3天、5天，你給他關半年，他出來第一件事還是吸毒。”
根據法務部統計，2005年，因為施用毒品入獄的受刑人，占全體受刑人比例五成左右，兩年內再犯率達七成。同年，國內開始推動「藥癮愛滋減害計畫」，由政府提供「清潔針具」、和「美沙冬療法」，不僅讓毒品案入獄人數降到24.8%，再犯率也大幅下降一半之多，從2023年到2026年6月底，台北市一共發出超過93萬支的清潔針具。而提供美沙冬替代治療的有4家醫院。
[[北市聯醫松德院區院長 黃名琪]]
“在美沙冬給藥窗口其實是相當嚴格的，我們的個案來的時候要做臉部辨識，然後喝藥之外，那個藥本身有顏色，所以透過檢查口腔，我們要固定檢查口腔，確定他有沒有喝下去。”
反毒是全球、也是台灣人的共識，醫療和公衛專家一再強調，毒品減害計畫，不等於鼓勵或縱容吸毒，更不該被斷章取義拿來做為選戰政治操作。
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