An “electronic cigarette inspection team” is to target ports of entry, night markets and the Internet, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in response to police concerns and a media report of e-cigarettes laced with methamphetamine bought from a Chinese web site.
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday said that in Taiwan, e-cigarettes are pharmaceutical products that cannot be sold without registration of the product and are not permitted to be sold online in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法).
According to the Chinese-language United Daily News, police tested an e-cigarette being smoked in Taipei after being alerted to its smell and found that it contained methamphetamine, a Category 2 narcotic specified by the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
The man, surnamed Wen (溫), denied that he was knowingly using the drug and was quoted in the report as telling the police that he purchased the “green-apple-flavored” e-cigarettes on a Chinese shopping Web site earlier this month, because he wanted to kick his smoking habit.
He found his urge for cigarettes decreased, along with acquiring an increased alertness, after using the device for a week.
Wen said he was shocked by the test result and joked that he expected to quit smoking by using electronic cigarettes, not by using narcotics. He was nevertheless placed under investigation as a drug suspect.
Police were quoted in the news report as raising concerns about similar online purchases leading to addiction and drug abuse.
The FDA said that nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes are regulated as pharmaceutical products in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and are required to be registered and approved before being put on the market, or else be banned as counterfeit or prohibited drugs.
Making claims about the product’s effectiveness in quitting smoking, or even lessening people’s urge to smoke, is equally outlawed by the act, the administration added.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS