Threshold for Buying Alcohol Should be Higher: Doctor|醫師:提高買酒門檻斷絕來源才是根本

Apart from calling for harsher penalties for drunk driving, doctors say it is far too easy to buy alcohol in Taiwan and the government has to raise the threshold for buying alcohol to cut off the alcoholic beverage supply of alcoholics to address the root of the problem.


Drunk driving is a serious problem in Taiwan and the number of repeat offenses is extremely high.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the rate of repeat offenses rose from 38.4 percent in 2014 to 45.6 percent in 2018. The number of drivers indicted for drunk driving in the last four years, meanwhile, was over 330,000. Of this number, repeat offenders with three or more DUIs accounted for 5.1 percent, or over 17,000.

One doctor specializing in alcohol addiction says alcohol dependence scales are only used for screening and an accurate diagnosis can only be made by a medical specialist. As it is very easy to buy alcohol in Taiwan, alcoholics that are in recovery have a 95 percent chance of falling off the wagon.

For most people, the hardest part is how easy it is to get alcohol in Taiwan. Alcohol is so readily available in Taiwan it makes falling off the wagon almost a foregone conclusion. This is, in my opinion, Taiwan's biggest problem. Another problem is that anti-addiction programs focus too much on treatment and not enough on prevention.

The doctor says treatment for alcoholism should be individualized and medication can be an effective form of treatment for some patients but not others.

As for deterrence, there are many options available ranging from mandatory rehab and harsher criminal penalties to mandatory installation of alcohol interlocks in cars.



近年來酒駕肇事頻傳，酒駕再犯率極高，根據法務部資料顯示，酒駕再犯率逐年上升，從2014年的38.4%，到去年的45.6%。此外，地檢署偵辦因酒駕而被起訴的人數，近4年共有33萬多人，其中犯行3次以上的有1萬7千多人，占了5.1%，顯示短期內有一定比率會再犯。

擔任酒癮醫療的醫師則指出，酒癮量表只是供篩檢用，確切的判定還是需要專科醫師，由於台灣買酒太容易，即使成功戒酒，復發的機率也高達95%。

台北聯合醫院一般暨成癮防治科主任 黃名琪表示：「大部分人回應，最大的困難就是台灣的可得性，酒精的可得性，太容易取得，使得他們容易復發，這是我覺得台灣目前最大的問題，此外，在台灣的酒癮防治上面，
我們都過度側重於治療部分，都忘記防治的部分，其實才是重點。」

醫師也強調，幫助患者戒酒癮，又分成藥物跟非藥物療法，依照每位個案的狀況來提供不同療法；從酒癮禁戒處分，到加重酒駕犯的刑責，甚至加裝酒精鎖等，多管齊下就是希望能遏止酒駕發生。