Hard times for 'betel nut beauties' as Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction

By Johan Nylander, for CNN

Updated 0101 GMT (0901 HKT) September 6, 2016

Along the streets and highways in Taiwan -- especially in the cities' outskirts and in the countryside -- are neon-lit booths with scantily clad "betel nut beauties."
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Along the streets and highways in Taiwan -- especially in the cities' outskirts and in the countryside -- are neon-lit booths with scantily clad "betel nut beauties."
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Women like Ling Ling serve customers betel nut, an addictive snack that is hugely popular in Taiwan.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Women like Ling Ling serve customers betel nut, an addictive snack that is hugely popular in Taiwan.
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Often wrapped in betel leaves, or paan, and chewed like a large fibrous chewing-gum, the betel nut gives a buzz on a par with several shots of espresso or, some say, amphetamine.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Often wrapped in betel leaves, or paan, and chewed like a large fibrous chewing-gum, the betel nut gives a buzz on a par with several shots of espresso or, some say, amphetamine.
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It's not just popular in Taiwan. Betel nut is also chewed in India, Myanmar, parts of China and Papua New Guinea,making it the world's fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance after tobacco, alcohol and caffeinated drinks.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
It's not just popular in Taiwan. Betel nut is also chewed in India, Myanmar, parts of China and Papua New Guinea,making it the world's fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance after tobacco, alcohol and caffeinated drinks.
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Bao Bao, a betel nut seller, holds a box of nuts a cup for chewers to spit in. Taiwan wants people to kick the habit. Since 2014, anyone caught spitting betel nut juice in the capital of Taipei will be fined and required to attend withdrawal classes. The tradition is under fire for its negative health impacts and several medical research studies show that chewing betel nuts is highly carcinogenic.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Bao Bao, a betel nut seller, holds a box of nuts a cup for chewers to spit in. Taiwan wants people to kick the habit. Since 2014, anyone caught spitting betel nut juice in the capital of Taipei will be fined and required to attend withdrawal classes. The tradition is under fire for its negative health impacts and several medical research studies show that chewing betel nuts is highly carcinogenic.
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Taiwan is trying to incentivize local farmers to change crops and cut the supply of the betel nut. Some 4,800 hectares of betel nut farming land are expected to be transformed into cultivation for crops like tea, citrus fruits or mango.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Taiwan is trying to incentivize local farmers to change crops and cut the supply of the betel nut. Some 4,800 hectares of betel nut farming land are expected to be transformed into cultivation for crops like tea, citrus fruits or mango.
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Other countries are also trying to curb the habit. In Myanmar, the government has ordered all employees <a href="http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/20705-govt-takes-aim-at-betel-chewing.html" target="_blank">not to chew betel during office hours</a> and has started a campaign to remove betel vendors from public places, including those popular with tourists.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
Other countries are also trying to curb the habit. In Myanmar, the government has ordered all employees not to chew betel during office hours and has started a campaign to remove betel vendors from public places, including those popular with tourists.
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This stained wall in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea shows the unsightly red saliva betel nut users spit into the street when they chew.
Photos: Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction
This stained wall in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea shows the unsightly red saliva betel nut users spit into the street when they chew.
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Taiwan betel nut 6Taiwan betel nut 4Taiwan betel nut 1India betel nutTaiwan betel nut 3Taiwan betel nut treesMyanmar betel nutPapua New Guinea betel nut

Story highlights

  • Betel nuts are a popular snack throughout Asia
  • Taiwan is trying to kick the addictive habit, which causes cancer
  • They are usually sold by scantily clad young women

Taipei, Taiwan (CNN)Ling Ling, 20, stands by the side of a highway on the outskirts of Taipei.

The top she wears is tight, and the transparent miniskirt she's wearing reveals a tattoo on her hip. She's waiting for truck drivers or working men to stop and buy her goods.
    In most other cities, it might be assumed those "goods" were sexual services.
      But not here.
      Ling Ling sells betel nuts, an addictive snack that is hugely popular in Taiwan, India, Myanmar and other parts of Asia.
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      "The more beautiful you are, the more money you can make," she says. "That's why I dress like this."
      Ling Ling prepares betel nuts behind a full-height transparent window in Taipei.
      Ling Ling prepares betel nuts behind a full-height transparent window in Taipei.

      Deadly and addictive

      Chewed by almost a tenth of the world's population, betel nuts -- or quids as they are sometimes referred to -- are the fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance after tobacco, alcohol and caffeinated drinks, according to World Health Organization.
      Along the streets and highways in Taiwan, neon-lit booths with scantily clad "betel nut beauties" serve customers who pull up in their cars or trucks.
      Often wrapped in betel leaves, or paan, and chewed like a large fibrous chewing-gum, the betel nut gives a buzz on a par with several shots of espresso or, some say, amphetamine.
      But