Taiwan's 60,000 Betel-Nut Beauties Thwart Effort to Curb Cancer

[shugah]

Taiwan's 60,000 Betel-Nut Beauties Thwart Effort to Curb Cancer

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Taiwan government's plan to curb cancer faces tough opposition: about 60,000 women who sit in roadside glass booths, often wearing little more than a bikini, selling the island's oldest legal drug.

The so-called betel-nut beauties, who are unique to Taiwan, peddle the island's second-largest crop to 17.5 percent of the adult male population, according to government estimates.

Chewing addictive betel nuts, the seed of the betel palm, increases the risk of mouth cancer, according to Taiwan's Department of Health. Officials are encouraging farmers to plant alternatives to the $359 million annual crop, urging about 1.6 million users to quit.

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Betel, or areca, nuts increase the heart rate and induce a mild sense of excitement, said Hahn Liang-Jiunn, an oral and facial surgeon at Taipei's National Taiwan University Hospital.

As many as 400 million people from East Africa to Indonesia chew the seeds and leaves regularly, the British Medical Journal reported in April 2002.

Taiwan's beauties are even featured in tourist guides. Their betel-nut stands are a favorite among long-distance drivers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=ahwT_eKoDVZo&refer=asia