Then again, consider the official case. First, the spitting. Others call it a public-health threat. Certainly the habit is not as benign as many would like to believe. Taiwan's Department of Health says the rate of oral cancer there is 2.6 times higher than in the U.S. and four times that of Japan.
Health advocates have it in for the betel nut, and so do the greens.
That in turn means the land is prone to erosion and, in typhoon season, landslides. And some growers illegally plant the trees on slopes, where the potential for trouble is even greater. The thirsty betel nut tree is also blamed for depleting the island's ground-water supply. The increase in betel-nut plantations has led to a worrying fall in the water table. The government is on shakier ground when it criticizes the moral implications of selling the nut.