Reported usage of so-called “zombie vapes” has grown 58-fold this year, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said on Wednesday last week.
“Zombie vapes” use etomidate, a type of central nervous system depressant that can induce anesthesia.
The office cited data from the Food and Drug Administration as showing that the number of etomidate-positive non-urine samples has surged by 58.2 times from 22 last year to 1,281 as of last month.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
The authorities also seized 2.3 tonnes of cannabis last year, up 9.7 times from 240.5kg in 2021, and 15,360 cannabis plants from January to August, an increase of 1.6 times from 6,692 plants last year, it said.
That indicates that cannabis has become one of the most popular narcotics in Taiwan, it added.
Abusing etomidate could lead to irritability, disorganized behavior, tremors, twitching or even death, Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital pediatrician Lin Yi-ching (林宜靜) said.
Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Chao Yen-li (趙燕利) said the office would clamp down on drug abuse, as cannabis and etomidate-related narcotics are increasingly used among young people and the number of reported seizures has been increasing over the past few years.
The office would monitor the sources and destinations of narcotic ingredients, and sites for drug cultivation, manufacturing and distribution, while working with international law enforcement, he said.
Criminal Investigation Bureau official Liu Chen-ju (劉貞汝) said the number of hit-and-run incidents that occur while driving under the influence of etomidate-related narcotics is increasing.
Two police officers died in the line of duty and five others have been injured this year, Liu said.
From July to this month, authorities seized 14,128 “zombie vape” cartridges, along with e-liquid and powders that could be made into more than 1.83 million cartridges worth about NT$4.6 billion (US$143,432 million), she said.
While etomidate is listed as a Category 3 narcotic, a narcotics review committee meeting would be convened early next month to discuss whether to upgrade the drug to Category 2, Ministry of Justice Department of Prosecutorial Affairs Director-General Kuo Yung-fa (郭永發) said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Huang Kuan-yun (黃冠運) said the office continues to promote a policy offering deferred prosecution and addiction treatment for drug users.
The recidivism rate for people who received deferred prosecution and addiction treatment was only 22.5 percent, much lower than those who were sentenced to observation, rehabilitation, compulsory abstention or rehabilitation in prison, he said.
The office would request district prosecutors to use deferred prosecution and addiction treatment to encourage defendants in drug abuse cases to abstain from narcotics, Huang said.
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