Taipei City Government's Bureau of Health yesterday set up a special team to cooperate with the police in a crackdown on teenage use of laughing gas (nitrous oxide) in pubs.
Chen Ho-liung (陳合良), the police director leading the crackdown, said he did not know the source of the laughing gas used in pubs.
"But currently most laughing gas is used as an anaesthetic in medicine and dentistry," he said.
The health bureau yesterday vowed to investigate and regulate the distribution of laughing gas in Taipei.
Research indicates that any mixture that is over 80 percent nitrous oxide has a toxic effect on humans.
Direct inhalation of the drug allows levels as high as 100 percent into the body.
The short-term effects of laughing gas inhalation include relaxation, hypersensitivity, vision disturbance and hallucinations. Consistent abuse of the inhalant can lead to permanent damage to the nervous system, lungs, kidneys and other organs and, in the case of pregnant women, can threaten the health of a developing fetus.
Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美), section chief of the health bureau responsible for drug control, said they were informed recently that teenagers in some pubs get high by inhaling laughing gas that has been put into balloons.
She said the special task force will be investigating distribution of nitrous dioxide in the city.
"It probably started one or two months ago. We are going to further investigate abuse of the inhalant in order to understand [the new craze] as well as find out where the laughing gas is coming from," she said.
Though cases have been reported, police have yet to catch anyone red-handed.
Chen said local teenagers might have moved on to laughing gas because they have less access to ecstasy since the authorities stepped up a campaign to stamp out its use.
"Besides, they don't have to pay much to get high with laughing gas. A balloon filled with laughing gas costs about NT$100," Chen added.
Chiang said the import, manufacture and use of nitrous oxide for medical purposes must be licensed by the Department of Health (
Only doctors are allowed to administer laughing gas, and must do so only in hospital surroundings.
Health bureau officials said that any hospital or clinic found to have sold or provided laughing gas for recreational use would have its license suspended for up to a year, and could also be subject of fines of up to NT$150,000.
They added that certified agents that distribute laughing gas to hospitals and clinics would be fined up to NT$150,000 if caught distributing to those without a health department permit.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS