BASE DRUG CASE:The defense minister denied last week’s discovery of packages of drugs on an air base might have been aimed at discrediting the base commander

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 03, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Cold medicine might have affected the drug tests of eight service personnel at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung, causing them to test positive for morphine use, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.

Base-wide drug screening was carried out following the discovery of 53 packages of amphetamines and ketamine on the base last week.

Eight base personnel reportedly tested positive for Category 1 narcotics, which include morphine, heroin and opium, none of which were found at the base.

Cold medicines containing codeine, an opiate, might have caused a positive result of morphine because the metabolites of the two substances are similar, ministry Medical Affairs Bureau Director Wu Yi-chang (吳怡昌) told lawmakers on the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.    [FULL  STORY]