Reporter TVBS News Staff
Release time：2025/04/07 20:00

Taiwan tracks alarming ketamine use among adolescents (Courtesy of NHRI)

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Researchers in Taiwan have sounded a public health alarm over the widespread use of ketamine among the country's youth, according to a comprehensive study released Monday (April 7) by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI, 國衛院). The troubling findings reveal that nearly 80% of junior high school students who have experimented with illegal substances reported using ketamine, highlighting a specific pattern of drug preference among Taiwan's adolescent population.

The longitudinal investigation, which meticulously tracked students over a four-year period, uncovered that more than one-third of those who used drugs were repeatedly flagged to educational institutions, law enforcement agencies, and health authorities for substance abuse. Chen Chuan-yu (陳娟瑜), who led the research team, noted that while the lifetime prevalence of drug use among Taiwan's minors remains at approximately 1%, the patterns of recidivism and specific substance preference present significant public health challenges.

To conduct their analysis, researchers leveraged comprehensive data from the Ministry of Education's "Drug Abuse Student Case Counseling Management System" (教育部藥物濫用學生個案輔導管理系統資料), concentrating specifically on junior high school students who had used illegal substances during the period from 2013 to 2016. The methodological strength of the study lies in its integration of this educational data with broader social welfare records, national health insurance information, and school dropout statistics, creating a multidimensional view of the factors associated with adolescent drug use.

According to Chen, the research identified family environment and school stability as crucial factors that significantly influence an adolescent's risk of drug exposure. The findings point to three essential areas where intervention could prove most effective: services targeted at high-risk families, improved treatment protocols for students with ADHD, and enhanced counseling measures for those at risk of dropping out of school. Researchers noted that while official statistics show a yearly decline in reported student drug abuse cases, the persistent underlying social and familial risk factors continue to raise serious concerns among public health officials.

The socioeconomic analysis within the study revealed stark disparities, with 25.6% of drug-using students coming from low-income or impoverished households—a rate three times higher than that found in the general adolescent population. Family influence emerged as another critical factor, with 16% of these vulnerable students having family members who also used drugs, a proportion eight times higher than their peers. The research further documented that 11.4% of these students were already involved with high-risk family services, while their school dropout rate reached an alarming 35%, substantially exceeding the figures for the general youth population and highlighting the interconnected nature of social challenges and substance abuse.

The longitudinal component of the research revealed that over the four-year tracking period, 35% of the students in the study faced repeated reports of drug use, indicating persistent challenges in breaking the cycle of substance abuse. On a more encouraging note, the data demonstrated that interventions focused on high-risk families successfully reduced drug use risk by 43%, offering a promising avenue for prevention efforts. Conversely, students who dropped out of school faced a 46% higher risk of subsequent drug-related reports, reinforcing the critical importance of educational continuity. These findings, which were published in the International Journal of Drug Policy in January 2025, emphasize the necessity of coordinated, cross-sector collaboration in developing effective prevention and intervention strategies for vulnerable youth.

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