S'pore must be wary of synthetic drugs amid worst overdose epidemic in history: Veteran journalist
Englishman Ioan Grillo has reported on the drug scene from Mexico for more than two decades and is in Singapore to speak at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs, which takes place at Furama RiverFront Hotel from May 15 to 17.
Used as a painkiller, fentanyl – a Class A controlled drug in Singapore – is estimated to be up to 100 times more potent than morphine.
It killed 76,000 people in the US in 2023, and 48,422 in 2024.
In his opening address at the forum, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said the threat of synthetic drugs is coming closer to home, after reports emerged in March that Malaysia had found traces of fentanyl in its sewage systems.
Tapping his experiences with drug cartels in Mexico, Mr Grillo said fentanyl has killed so many people that it is actually bad business for drug sellers.
He said: 'Because you're killing off your customers. So they're trying to find ways to mix it up with other drugs or tranquillisers.'
Mr Grillo said that 20 years ago, he would be able to have a conversation with a drug user or addict.
But the effects of synthetic drugs are more pronounced, such that he can barely make sense of his conversations with drug users today.
He said: 'The addicts today are completely zombified, and an incredible number of people are dying from these drugs. This may be the worst overdose epidemic in history.'
He added that modern synthetic drugs could be manufactured so purely that the doses are exponentially higher than that of drugs in the past.
Speaking to The Straits Times on May 14, Mr Grillo said the revolution towards synthetic drugs has surfaced in Asia and will pose a bigger problem than traditional plant-based drugs, like cannabis.
He said: 'If you look at it – the biggest problem in Asia is methamphetamine, and it is a synthetic drug. (Suppliers) have found big markets in the Philippines, in Malaysia, and it's the biggest problem in Singapore.'
Annual statistics from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) show that methamphetamine was the most commonly abused drug in Singapore in 2024.
In its 2024 report, the United Nations-backed International Narcotics Control Board said a rapid expansion of synthetic drugs is becoming a global public health threat.
These drugs, which are cheaper to make, mean greater profits for producers and traffickers.
In 2021, CNB uncovered the first known attempt to traffic fentanyl in its pure form into Singapore after seizing 200 vials containing about 20mg of the opioid in a scanned package from Vietnam.
To solve the global drug problem, former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy adviser Kevin Sabet said governments should tackle drug problems on the local level first.
Mr Sabet, a drug policy scholar, will also speak at the Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs.
He told ST that in Singapore's case, deterrence in the form of strict drug legislation seems to be working.
But he warned that the global consensus against drug abuse has been challenged in recent years by those who lobby for legislative changes and softer attitudes towards narcotics.
Said Mr Sabet: 'One of the things I'm extremely worried about is the movement to legalise drugs. It's coming from a multibillion-dollar movement that is very smart, calculated, and running in non-governmental organisations around the world.'
He pointed out that a key goal for the movement is to break the global consensus against drug abuse and argued that countries cannot lose sight of the need to work together.
He cited Thailand's experience with decriminalising the recreational use of cannabis in 2022, but later reversed its decision after a public backlash.
Mr Sabet said the movement targeted Thailand, arguing that cannabis could be used for medicinal purposes and somehow convincing the authorities to go ahead with the move.
He said countries should not be swayed by such rhetoric.
Said Mr Sabet: 'Instead, focus on a comprehensive approach and see prevention and recovery as your North Star.
'And do not succumb to those who tell us that we can simplify our way out of the drug problem by making drugs safer to use, or encouraging even more drug use.'
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
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