Swift action needed to stop vaping's slide from health risk to drug epidemic

Straits Times

2 days ago

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Quick action, and a whole-of-government approach, is needed to tackle vaping – not just as a health issue but a potential drug problem, say the writers.
SINGAPORE –The Government on July 12 announced that it was considering enhancing current enforcement laws, following a spike in seizures of drug-laced e-vaporisers.
A number of recent reports have highlighted the Kpod, or e-vaporiser laced with the anaesthetic drug etomidate, and its hold on young people.
The vaping issue today mirrors what was seen in the early 1980s, when Singapore was grappling with glue-sniffing.
There were reports then of young inhalant abusers dying, often the result of a fall from height. Others were stricken with brain damage from substance abuse.
Over the past few weeks, young people have been caught on video shaking uncontrollably, purportedly from the effects of using drug-laced vapes.
And in April, a 13-year-old girl was seen
behaving erratically while vaping in public outside the State Courts. A subsequent raid on her residence found a vaporiser laced with etomidate.
In 1984, the Government took steps that prevented glue-sniffing from becoming a widespread problem. An inter-ministry committee made recommendations covering education and preventive measures, as well as new legislation.
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The Intoxicating Substances Act enacted three years later prohibited the misuse of certain substances that can cause intoxication when inhaled.
The Government had prior experience fighting such battles. In 1977, the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) – enacted in 1973 – was used to wage a war on drug trafficking and addiction.
Some 900 drug offenders were arrested within four days of the launch of Operation Ferret. In total, 8,000 suspects were arrested, and the street supply of heroin was cut dramatically in the months that followed.
In Parliament in 1988, then Minister for Home Affairs S. Jayakumar said it was fortunate that the country tackled the drug problem at the early stage. 'Countries which did not act quickly have found, to their regret, that the problem took hold, overwhelmed them, and no headway could be made to curb drug abuse.'
And to tackle the new glue-sniffing scourge, Singapore had to act decisively. 'As we did with drugs, here again, we had to take quick and early action,' he said. 'Otherwise, we would have a problem of epidemic proportion.'
Now, quick action, and a whole-of-government approach, is needed to tackle vaping – not just as a health issue but also as a potential drug problem.
South-east Asia and East Asia face a drug crisis, a report published in May by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) showed, and Singapore is not immune.
Synthetic drug manufacturing is hitting record levels, and organised crime groups are increasingly pushing these drugs and pharmaceutical products like etomidate on young people by tapping the popularity of vaporisers.
Synthetic cannabis is commonly found in vapes seized in the region, the UNODC report said.
Manufacturers are also mixing different synthetic substances in unknown concentration, exposing users to the risks of overdose and dependence.
Another troubling recent report revealed the threat at our doorstep – two in three vapes seized since 2023 in Malaysia contained dangerous drugs such as synthetic cannabinoids and methylenedioxymethamphetamine, which is usually processed into Ecstasy pills.
Separately, on June 19, law enforcement agencies in Malaysia
cracked down on a criminal syndicate distributing vape pods laced with synthetic cocaine.
Nearly 5,000 vape cartridges containing some 9.42 litres of cocaine were seized. Three Singaporean men were among suspected syndicate members arrested.
In Singapore, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has found tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, in vape form.
Clearly, vaping is now a narcotics risk. Mandatory drug testing may be necessary – and our laws need to keep up.
Despite assurances from Telegram sellers of drug-laced vapes that the synthetic drugs are 'undetectable', reports in the US and Britain show that drugs, even when consumed in vape form, can be picked up in lab tests.
Our laws allow those suspected of having consumed a controlled drug to be detained and subjected to drug testing under the MDA.
But criminal groups are constantly changing the formula for synthetic drugs to circumvent legal definitions of what constitutes a synthetic drug, or new psychoactive substances (NPS), as well as testing regimes designed to recognise the formulas, UNODC said.
Singapore has had to close enforcement gaps before.
After the glue-sniffing problem, Singapore was hit by a different addiction crisis in the early 2000s. It involved Subutex, a pharmaceutical drug approved as a doctor-prescribed substitute treatment for opiate-dependent drug abusers. Reports emerged of abusers mixing Subutex pills and pharmaceutical products like Dormicum to get what they termed as a 'legal high'.
As the drug was licensed under the Medicines Act, the police and the Central Narcotics Bureau could not take action against abusers. That loophole was closed in 2006 when Subutex was reclassified as a controlled drug under the MDA, effectively taking it off the streets.
When it comes to drug-laced vape pods, suspects may fall outside the scope of enforcement under the same Act if the substances involved are not listed as controlled drugs.
To stay ahead of the shifting nature of the drug landscape, Singapore's laws around synthetic drugs were amended in June 2024 to regulate NPS based on their effects rather than specific chemical structures.
Further amendments came into effect in 2025, to tackle new compounds that continue to be detected each year.
From July 1, seven additional NPS products came under the MDA, and the definition of cannabinol has been widened to incorporate more of its derivatives.
This gives the law real bite, treating drug vaping as a narcotics offence rather than a $2,000 tobacco violation – a penalty that has failed to stop vaping from rising.
Some 9,680 people were caught using or possessing vapes in the first nine months of 2024, compared with 7,838 the previous year.
Meanwhile, HSA seizures have also grown exponentially.
In 2019, raids and investigations resulted in $95,460 worth of seizures across the year. From January 2024 to March 2025, about $41 million worth of vapes were seized.
Under the Tobacco Act, those caught importing, selling and distributing face up to six months' jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
The MDA carries far heavier penalties, and also criminalises possession of any apparatus or article for the consumption of controlled drugs – which would include vaporisers.
Meanwhile, the use of etomidate falls under the Poisons Act. Those found vaping or selling it can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to $10,000, or both.
The UNODC report makes it clear that drug vaping is common in East Asia and South-east Asia.
Vaping is a visible health crisis. Quick and early action is required to prevent it from becoming a drug problem of epidemic proportion.