Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-10

The Cabinet has held a regional anti-drug forum in the southern city of Tainan. The

Cabinet Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (center) speaks during a regional anti-drug forum held Saturday in the southern city of Tainan. (CNA)

purpose of the forum was to communicate the government’s anti-drug strategy to officials from seven local governments in southern Taiwan.

During the forum, Cabinet Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling said that the list of criteria for would-be school principals will be expanded to include what she called anti-drug actions. Chen said this is in order to keep drugs out of Taiwanese schools. At the same time, she said that local police forces will step up patrols of known hotspots for drug use in an effort to keep students away from drugs.

Chen said that the fight against drugs is an important policy for both President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Lin Chuan. She said that between Tsai’s inauguration last year and the end of February this year, authorities have seized over 5,600kgs of drugs. Chen said that this is a notable increase. At the same time, she said that May saw the seizure of a sizable amount of heroin and the raw material used in amphetamine production.    [FULL  STORY]