 Under this scheme, opium could only be purchased from licensed retailers.As a result of the strict enforcement, the number of addicts dropped from 165,000 in 1900 to fewer than 8,000 by 1941, none of whom was younger than 30.In addition, as government revenues from opium sales was lucrative and Gotō used opium sales licenses to reward Taiwanese elite loyal to the Japanese Empire and those who assisted in the suppression of the "Taiwan Yiminjun" (), an armed group that resisted Japanese rule.