Economic Stress, Mental Health, and Drug Use: Regional Insights from Taiwan

This study examines how macroeconomic conditions and antidepressant use affect drug-use crime, using panel data from 19 cities and counties on Taiwan's main island between 2012 and 2023. Using fixed-effects panel estimation, we control for regional heterogeneity and include a linear time trend to track changes in the number of drug-use suspects. The empirical strategy is designed to mitigate endogeneity bias and yields three key insights. First, drug use is more prevalent in regions characterized by lower income inequality, lower unemployment, a lower female population ratio, and higher population density, suggesting that certain well-intentioned policies may inadvertently increase drug accessibility. Second, greater antidepressant use is significantly linked to fewer drug-use suspects, highlighting the preventive role of mental health support. Third, the number of drug-use suspects has been increasing at an annual rate of approximately 7%. These findings underscore the need to integrate mental health into drug prevention efforts and to consider the complex effects of socioeconomic reforms.