Police, schools to work more closely on student drug abuse

Taipei--The Ministry of Education said Sunday that schools will be instructed to work more closely with the police to build up precise and sharable data about students involved in drugs cases to better monitor drug abuse on and off campus.

According to the ministry, 7,750 people aged between 18-24 were involved in such cases last year, including 183 college students and 207 high and vocational school students.

However, there has been a great lack of information for the police about the actual number of students involved in those cases because the data on students' status is only accessible to the ministry.

Without that key information, it is hard for law enforcement authorities to identify problematic schools where drug abuse is rife, the ministry explained.

There has been increasing concern about the issue, particularly the fact that drug rings have become more aggressive in recruiting "unknown third parties," some of them students, to act as mules to transport drugs for them.

It is hoped that through data-sharing between the police and schools, law enforcement authorities can have a clearer understanding about drug use on campus.

On the other hand, schools could better intervene in drug cases, providing consulting services for students and helping the police conduct searches.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel