The historic first demonstration to call for the decriminalization of cannabis in Taiwan was held on April 20th last month, with approximately 200 in attendance. The event was scheduled to coincide with 420, a date which in which cannabis-related events are held internationally...
Taiwan again proves that it is far from a liberal country on drug policy with the controversy following the arrest of Taiwanese independence advocate Lo Yi on charges of using cannabis...
The Tsai administration has vowed to step up the war on drugs in recent times. But does the Tsai administration's war on drugs raise concerns for personal privacy in Taiwan, particularly for young people? Namely, social attitudes in Taiwan sometimes skew towards seeing young people as dangerous drug users, even when this is not backed up by statistics, and there is the possibility that the Tsai administration's war on drugs may disproportionately target young people. More broadly, as with elsewhere in the world, one suspects that the Tsai administration's war on drugs masks systemic inequalities in society...
Framing news stories to demonize and portray users and sellers of drugs as being at the top of issues affecting Taiwan is irresponsible and lends itself to clouding other serious issues...
The war on drugs under the Tsai administration seems set to continue, with recent public scandals regarding drug use on army bases, the scandal caused by a drug-related death after a party at the five-star W Hotel in Taipei, and major drug crackdowns. Very likely, the Tsai administration is determined to make harsh drug policy enforcement one of its political achievements...