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.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
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