Legislator slams newspaper ads for `date rape' drugs

A legislator yesterday urged the government to crack down on ads hawking illegal drugs, after a flurry of such ads for "date rape" drugs appeared recently in local newspapers.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said yesterday that drug abuse has become a serious problem, and that the newspaper ads now allow date-rape drugs to be easily obtained.

Huang said that he had bought a bottle filled with a GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid)-like substance in a small bottle via a telephone order. He said that it was advertised in the newspaper as "liquid ecstasy."

There was no Chinese on the label, only the word "Spanish" in English, followed by instructions in German.

GHB, also called liquid ecstasy, is an odorless, colorless liquid that causes euphoria, amnesia and often hallucinations. It is illegal in Taiwan.

Huang also played tape recordings of telephone orders in which the vendors explained how to use the drugs and that "GHB wouldn't be detected by the girl when added to water."

Wang Shu-fang (王淑芳), section chief of the Department of Publications at the Government Information Office (GIO), said that the office can only prevent the ads from being printed if they violate the Child and Juvenile Welfare Law (兒童及青少年福利法). Advertising a drug like GHB is not itself illegal, since it was impossible for authorities to know only from an ad whether an illegal substance was actually being sold, she said.

The GIO urged the media to exercise self-discipline and refuse to run these ads, Wang said.

The ads can be found in all major Chinese-language newspapers, including the United Daily News, Liberty Times, China Times and Apple Daily.

Lan Kuo-yueh (藍國岳), an official from the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs at the Department of Health (DOH), said that there has been cooperation between local health departments and police agencies targeting illegal drugs.

Also, the department had just begun a "central surveillance project," and is having DOH-authorized personnel collect and buy illegal drug products from newspaper ads or the Internet for the department to inspect, Lan said.

The department itself could only punish sellers after a drug is tested and found to be illegal, he said.

Vendors of illegal drugs are subject to a maximum of 12 years in jail and a fine of NT$25 million (US$774,353), Lan said.