A Study on The Effects of Deferred Prosecution for Compulsory Drug Abstention and Treatment in Taiwan

Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act was revised in 1998, which applies the concept of drug users as ""patients"". First-time drug offenders may be granted rehabilitative measures, instead of subjecting to penalty. The 2008 amendment allows the first-time drug defendant to be placed on probation if the prosecution has been deferred by the prosecutor for the purpose of allowing the defendant to participate in and successfully complete the drug treatment program. The drug treatment program was also changed from the “institutional treatment model” to the “community treatment model”. However, the probation violation rates remain high since 2008. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of deferred prosecution addiction treatment. This study explores the effectiveness of deferred prosecution addiction treatment by analyzing the secondary data from government. In addition, the effects are further analyzed by different characteristics of drug defendants, such as gender, age, level of drug administration, the frequency before the deferred prosecution, and the type of recidivism involved. The results show that the probation violation rates are higher for patients with male sex, category one narcotics, and the age between 30 and 50 years old.