In a move certain to anger blue-collar city residents -- especially taxi and truck drivers -- Taipei has announced plans for a ban on betel nut chewing in public places in the city, with violators facing fines of up to NT$3,000.
The Taipei City Government's Bureau of Health (BOH) on Monday proposed the first draft of a "Betel Nut Hygiene Management Autonomy Provision" (檳榔衛生管理自治條例), which outlaws Taipei City residents under the age of 18 buying and eating betel nuts. Under the proposed ordinance, violators would face a fine of up to NT$15,000. The stipulation also bans betel nut chewing in public places. Infringements would face a fine of between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000.
In addition, the measure proposes that betel nut boxes should bear health warning signs, as well as a printed warning that they are not to be sold to anyone under the age of 18.
The parents or guardians of children under the age of 18 found chewing betel nuts would also face a NT$1,000 to NT$3,000 fine; and vendors who sell betel nuts to children under that age would be subject to a NT$2,000 to NT$15,000 fine.
The draft will be passed to the Taipei City Council for deliberation in the next council session. Once the provision is passed, Taipei will be the island's first city to ban betel nut chewing in public.
The decree should be announced before January and should take effect by the middle of next year. There would be a six-month buffer period for public promotion.
Betel nuts -- favored by Taiwan's manual laborers and truck and taxi drivers who say it keeps them alert over long working days -- are a popular stimulant whose crimson stains can be found on city streets throughout the island.
The mildly narcotic nut, usually taken with a brick-red mix of ash, herbs and sorghum liquor, is Taiwan's second-largest cash crop.
It is well-known that betel nut chewing is responsible for causing oral cancer, which ranked seventh among Taiwan's top 10 causes of death in 1997, said Lin Shu-yuan (
According to the health bureau's director, Yeh Chin-Chuan (
Betel nut trees have also been blamed for creating water and soil conservation problems.
The health bureau has stressed that the proposal is not aimed at stopping the retail trade of betel nuts, but rather to better manage betel nut problems with the help of the law. However, the plan has received different responses from officials and the public.
The Cabinet-level Department of Health (DOH
"It is easier to carry out the ordinance because Taipei residents seem to respond to the proposal with more enthusiasm. Hopefully, the city's successful attempt will help other cities and towns in the future as well," said Chen Tsai-chin (
Wei Fu-chuan (
Betel nut vendor Lin Hsien-chun (
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