The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday announced the top five types of drugs abused in Taiwan in the first 10 months of this year, saying that the use of sleeping pills has increased steadily over the past six years.
Heroin topped the list of most abused drugs for the sixth straight year, accounting for 66.8 percent of all substance abuse cases, followed by amphetamine and ketamine, which accounted for 33.1 percent and 5 percent respectively, the FDA said in a press release.
Zolpidem — a prescription medication used for the treatment of insomnia — accounted for 4.3 percent of all drug abuse cases, while ecstasy represented 3.4 percent.
The FDA said that the percentage of drug abuse cases involving Zolpidem was 0.7 percent in 2007, rising to 1.6 percent the following year. Last year, 2.3 percent of all substance abuse cases in Taiwan involved Zolpidem.
Chi Mei Hospital Psychiatry Department head Lin Jin-jia (林進嘉) said sleep difficulties can be caused by a variety of factors, including anxiety, depression and stress, and that overreliance on sleeping pills can lead to substance addiction.
Tsai Wen-ying (蔡文瑛), an official at the FDA, urged people suffering from sleeping disorders or pain to seek medical help.
Increasing the dosage of sleeping pills or painkillers without seeking medical advice can cause health problems, Tsai said.
According to the FDA, heroin is still the main culprit in drug abuse cases in Taiwan, accounting for more than 90 percent of case between 2007 and 2010, and 83.3 percent last year.
Ketamine abuse lingered at around 1 percent between 2007 and 2009, increasing to 1.5 percent in 2010 and 2.4 percent a year later. This year, that number doubled this year to 5 percent.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS