Sub-replacement fertility is now a national security issue for Taiwan, and even at this time, many children are vulnerable to the effects of narcotics abuse exposure.
According to local media, a woman who habitually took amphetamines — a Schedule II controlled substance — while she was in charge of her boyfriend’s four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, exposed the children to smoke inhalation.
The two children tested positive for the drug, which means they were exposed to secondhand drug smoke intake over a period of time.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the woman based on the Offenses Against Child Development (妨害幼童發育罪) article of the Criminal Code.
DRUG DEN
In recent years, many analogous cases — children having to breathe in secondhand drug smoke — have occurred in Taiwan, harming children’s health, in some cases causing irreparable damage to their physical and psychological well-being. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this issue.
In 2020, a two-month-old infant was sent to a hospital in Kaohsiung with a cold and died suddenly. As blood and urine tests came back positive for amphetamines, the police went to the parents’ house and rescued the other eight children — aged two through eight — living in what was described as a “drug den.”
The investigation found that the parents and others at the home had habitually used drugs in front of the children, and this is why they tested positive for drugs, with some exhibiting symptoms of autism, language impairment, developmental delays and of being underweight.
In a 2019 investigation, the parents of a newborn boy in Taoyuan hired a caregiver to help them, but discovered that she was using drugs while taking care of the baby in the child’s room. The child later tested positive for amphetamines.
Babies and kids do not have the capacity to recognize or distinguish objects or protect themselves. If an adult habitually abuses narcotics with children present and fails to understand the gravity of what they are doing, they are essentially forcing those children to take drugs.
The government should amend the laws to increase the severity of punishment for this kind of behavior.
FAKE PACKAGING
The increase of newly emergent drug-related crimes, especially disguising drugs as normal instant coffee, has become a major national security issue in recent years.
An average of 100 people die suddenly per year due to ingesting narcotics-laced coffee, and most are adolescents and young people.
The data so far show that the youngest death to date was a 16-year-old high-school student, showing that the abuse of drug-laced coffee severely endangers people.
With ever newer and diversified types of drugs, the youngest victims — directly and indirectly harmed — are babies and children, and the government has a responsibility to address this situation.
Drug enforcement and related laws such as the Criminal Code and the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) should move with the times.
In addition, whether increasing penalties for exposing others to secondhand drug smoke or not should be reviewed and considered.
Chang Sue-chung is a former president of Taiwan Shoufu University, specializing in criminology.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
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