The use of drugs containing synthetic cathinones, commonly known as “bath salts,” is becoming more prevalent in Taiwan and has led to 60 deaths this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
In 2000, cases related to abuse of synthetic cathinones such as mephedrone, methylone, ethylone and chloromethcathinone accounted for 0.4 percent of all confirmed drug cases handled by police, the administration said.
However, by last year the figure had increased 35.5 times to 14.2 percent, the administration’s statistics showed.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Synthetic cathinones are central nervous system stimulants that mimic the effects of substances such as amphetamines and cocaine.
The number of deaths caused by synthetic cathinone abuse rose from three in 2012 to 36 in 2015, said Chien Hsi-wen (簡希文), a senior technical specialist at the FDA, citing data from the Ministry of Justice’s Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Illicit drug manufacturers sometimes package the drugs as coffee, candy, cookies or chocolate and there have been instances of accidental consumption, Chien said.
Shaw Kai-ping (蕭開平), a section chief at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, said synthetic cathinones use can lead to agitation, hallucinations and heart problems.
Sixty people in Taiwan have died so far this year after using synthetic cathinones, Hsiao said, adding that 70 percent of the fatalities were men, with an average age of 24.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
RSS