KMT legislator Luo Zhiqiang. (File photo)
Shen Boyang, a Taipei mayoral candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, wrote an article in 2014, proposing arguments such as "equaling drugs with drugs" and "establishing community centers to provide drug users with drugs and clean needles." Kuomintang legislator Luo Zhiqiang held a press conference today to express his solemn position of "Taiwan's fight against drug abuse and save the next generation." He announced the organization of an "Anti-drug King Kong" to fight against the "drug traffic fleet" and dispatched a large LED advertising King Kong vehicle to travel through Taipei. He called on everyone to resolutely oppose providing drugs to drug users in community centers, and called on citizens to stand up and protect the next generation.
Luo Zhiqiang and others jointly stated that Taipei people and Taiwanese people will never accept Shen Boyang's proposal to provide drugs to drug addicts in community centers, and called on Shen Boyang to admit his mistake and promise not to provide drugs to drug addicts in community centers. This sentence was not said by others, but by Shen Boyang himself. Don't use methadone to divert the focus. No one will oppose methadone therapy. Oral replacement of drug detoxification is a medical behavior.
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The statement stated that Shen Boyang's views are not irreversible, but the most frightening thing is that Shen Boyang did not admit his mistakes. He believed that his views were not wrong and it has become his important political opinion. Can Taipei citizens and Taiwanese not be worried? Ask Shen Boyang to sympathize with the young students, parents and family members who have been harmed by drugs, admit his wrong opinions, and promise that he will never provide drugs to drug addicts in community centers.
Luo Zhiqiang said that the long-term goal of Shen Boyang's 2014 article was to decriminalize drug abuse, but he also felt that it was impossible in the short term, so he settled for the next best thing and proposed providing drugs to drug users in community centers instead of providing alternative therapies to drug addicts in medical institutions. These are two completely different things. No one objects to methadone therapy, but Shen Boyang cannot change the concept. It is impossible for Taiwanese people to accept providing drugs to drug addicts in community centers.
Luo Zhiqiang said that Shen Boyang can be said to have written a paper more than ten years ago. Now his mind has changed. It is not that his position cannot be changed. But the most terrifying thing is not that he once made this claim, but that he still believes that his claim is not wrong. So how can we not worry if this thing really happens one day in the future? The community center next to my home provides drugs to drug addicts. This is why we stand up and declare today. We respect and expect Shen Boyang to change his position. We just want to tell everyone that we should give up the idea of providing drugs to drug addicts in community centers. We believe that Taiwanese society is tolerant and can accept your changes.
Xu Qiaoxin pointed out that when Shen Boyang wrote this article, methadone therapy was already available in Taiwan, but Shen Boyang's article said that he wanted to learn from other countries. If he was introducing the existing policy of methadone, he should praise this policy for indeed helping drug addiction treatment, but his article criticized the government for not moving in the direction of decriminalizing drug abuse. Therefore, before this goal is achieved, he can follow the example of other countries, establish community centers and provide drugs to drug users.
Xu Qiaoxin said that everyone begs Shen Boyang to stop sending wrong messages to society, and welcomes Shen Boyang to join the fight against drugs, abandon his ideas of decriminalizing drug use and saying drugs are drugs, and stand with Taiwanese people in declaring war on drugs. Lai Shibao also said that zero tolerance for drugs is the government's consistent position and goal; Xu Yuzhen said that Shen Boyang should stop being stubborn and secretly changing his ideas.
Li Yanxiu said that opposing the entry of drugs into schools and communities is the greatest consensus among Taiwanese people. Shen Boyang must make it clear what a mayoral candidate's attitude towards drugs is. Policies can be well defended, but he is firmly opposed to specific camps and political parties blurring the focus of important policies behind their backs.
☆One less drug means more health, Liberty Times reminds you to stay away from drugs☆
