Viewing the trends in the number of juveniles referred for Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law violations since 1972, the year when a partial amendment (came into effect in August 1972) was made to the said law so as to criminalize the act of abusing thinners and other organic solvents or selling such substances in the knowledge that they will be abused, as shown in Fig. 4-1-2-1 , the largest number of juvenile drug-related offenses comes under Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law violations.
   Fig. 4-1-2-2 shows the trends in the number of juveniles cleared by the police, and the juvenile rate (the proportion of juveniles to the total number of persons cleared) for Stimulant Drug Control Law violations since 1970.
  The number of juveniles cleared for Stimulant Drug Control Law violations increased remarkably in the period of 1975-1984, and recorded its highest number in the past, 2,769 juveniles, in 1982, but the number has declined since then and was 749 in 2002. The juvenile rate took a downward turn in 1998 and was 4.4% (down 0.9 points from the previous year) in 2002.

Fig. 4-1-2-2 Trends in the number of juveniles cleared for Stimulant Drug Control Law violations and juvenile rate (1970-2002)