Abstract

BackgroundIllegal drug use has long been a global concern. Taiwan and Korea are geographically adjacent and both countries have experienced the illegal use problems of methamphetamine, a predominant prototype of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). NPS, a term coined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in recent years, have not been scrutinized for their safety and may become a new threat to public health and security worldwide. To conduct evidence-based drug policy, it is imperative to estimate the trend and pattern of illegal drug use. Therefore, this study aims to analyze and compare the current status of drug-related seizures, arrests and illegal drug use, with a focus on methamphetamine and NPS, between Taiwan and Korea.MethodsData of illegal drug (including NPS)-related seizures and arrests were collected via anti-drug related agencies of both countries from 2006 through 2014.Since listing of NPS as controlled substances was a result of NPS abuse liability through official evaluation, the items of controlled NPS were used as an indicator of emerging use. These data obtained from Taiwan and Korea was then compared.ResultsThe results showed that while methamphetamine remained as a predominant drug in both Taiwan and Korea for decades, different illegal drug use patterns have been observed in these two countries. In Taiwan, the major illegal drugs were methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine, whereas in Korea those were methamphetamine and cannabis. By comparison of per capita illicit drug seizures, the illegal drug use situation in Taiwan was at a higher stake than that in Korea. In terms of NPS use, ketamine has been a major drug in Taiwan, but it was seldom found in Korea. Besides ketamine, the major type of NPS was synthetic cathinones in Taiwan whereas it was synthetic cannabinoids and phenethylamines in Korea. The difference in the numbers of controlled NPS items between Taiwan (23) and Korea (93) may be due to the implementation of temporary control on NPS in Korea since 2011.ConclusionWhile the problem of methamphetamine still lingers, NPS have emerged as a new issue in both countries. However, the NPS pattern was different between Taiwan and Korea. Although the controlled NPS items in Taiwan were far less than those in Korea, the quantity of total NPS seizures, especially with ketamine, was much larger in Taiwan than in Korea. Different NPS pattern may also imply they were from different sources. Factors other than geographical proximity, such as drug policy and availability and accessibility to drugs, should be taken into account for the current status of illegal drug use in Korea and Taiwan.

Highlights

  • Illegal drug use has long been a global concern

  • Thirty-one items of phenethylamines and other types of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) have been regulated since 2014. These results indicate that the categories of NPS identified in Korea have been diversified with a majority of synthetic cannabinoids and phenethylamines

  • This study provides first-hand information of illegal drug use situation in Taiwan, especially on methamphetamine and NPS use, which can help complete the map of methamphetamine or ketamine flow in East and Southeast Asia [30]

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Summary

Introduction

Illegal drug use has long been a global concern. Taiwan and Korea are geographically adjacent and both countries have experienced the illegal use problems of methamphetamine, a predominant prototype of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). Reviews on the major illicit drug use situation in some Asian countries, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, showed that these three illicit drugs have been most prevalent in general, ATS is not a favorable drug in India, organic solvent replaces opioids/opiates as one of the top three illicit drugs in Japan, and ketamine replaces cannabis in both China and Taiwan [5,6,7]. These studies indicate that the status of illegal drug use may vary from one country to another. Evaluation of illegal drug use situation at individual country level is necessary to solve unique drug problems in each country

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