Revelers across Asia who snort the animal tranquilizer ketamine for a hallucinogenic high may face incontinence and other health problems as the new dangers of this cheap party drug have started showing up in long-term studies.
Doctors in Hong Kong, where ketamine took off as a party drug about a decade ago, have recently found that heavy users have poor bladder control and are prone to long-term liver damage.
“The worst cases are in young people who have to empty their bladders every 15 minutes. They can’t even take a bus ride without alighting and going to the toilet,” said Ben Cheung, a psychiatrist who works with ketamine users.
“Their kidney functions are affected and they are so young. This is a serious health consequence that we never expected because it has never been seen anywhere else.”
Incontinence is not the only problem for these drug users, who sniff the powdery hallucinogenic that looks much like cocaine but costs 10 percent of the price.
A recent study in Hong Kong of 97 drug users, most of whom primarily took ketamine, found that over 60 percent of them suffered depression, 31 percent complained of poor concentration and 23 percent had memory problems.
“It shocked the users. Never did they think it would affect brain function and they care about that,” said Tatia Lee, who was a member of the team conducting the study.
Ketamine users usually mix the drug, synthesized in 1962 as a veterinary anesthetic, with other substances. To increase profits, dealers add powder from paint scraped off walls, chalk and crushed glass, which gives the same shimmer of good quality ketamine.
“It’s difficult to pin certain effects to a drug but ketamine is still the primary substance,” Cheung said.
Odorless, cheap and easy to consume, ketamine, which started out as a poor man’s cocaine, edged out heroin in Hong Kong around 2000 and then overtook marijuana.
Sources familiar with the trade say ketamine is widely manufactured in liquid form in China, and then brought into Hong Kong, where it can be easily converted into the powder form that is snorted by users.
Many young people in Hong Kong travel across the border to China to enjoy the party scene and a cheap supply of ketamine. While not physically addictive, users become psychologically dependent, expert say.
Last year, Hong Kong had an estimated 8,309 psychotropic drug users of which 5,042 used ketamine, according to one study. Methamphetamine, or ice, is in second place with 1,360 users.
Together with other drugs such as ice and ecstasy, ketamine was used in regional rave party circuits in the early years of the decade, turning up in places such as Taiwan, Bangkok, Singapore and Malaysia.
“It has [also] spread beyond Asia to places like Canada, particularly its ethnic Chinese community. Drug trend is like fashion, it is passed along by friends,” said Cheung.
Although raids by anti-drug agencies in Hong Kong in recent years have driven ketamine away from nightspots, its abundant supply and ease of use has led to ever younger people becoming abusers and the drug being consumed just about anywhere.
“Its use is rising and we have addicts as young as nine. Before, people used it in nightspots, now drugs are a part of their lives, they use it everyday, in their homes, in their office [toilets], everywhere,” said Sparkle Yu, a social worker with Caritas, a Catholic help group in Hong Kong.
“It is very easy to buy. They [pushers] can deliver them to the foot of your office building in 15 minutes.”
Yet, as with all drugs, the consequences are dire.
“The complications of psychotropic drugs are many. For ice and ecstasy, they are linked to cardiac, lung and breathing difficulties, brain damage,” said Peggy Chu, senior medical officer and urologist at Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong.
“For ketamine, there is long term neurological and uterine complications, like having to go to the toilet every 15 minutes, bladder, kidney and liver problems. Colangitis, or inflammation of the bile duct, causes stomach pain and it could damage the liver in the long term.”
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at