Singapore part of new coalition to tackle drug trafficking, abuse: Shanmugam

Straits Times

15-05-2025

Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam addressing attendees of the Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs at Furama Riverfront Hotel on May 15. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
SINGAPORE - The Republic will be part of a new regional coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
The group, called the Asia-Pacific Confederation against Drugs (APCD), will push for the creation of drug-free societies and stronger drug demand reduction efforts.
The founding group will include members from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
On May 15, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam announced the formation of the coalition and said Singapore will be represented by the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association.
Mr Shanmugam, who was accompanied by Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, was speaking at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs held at Furama RiverFront Hotel in Havelock Road.
More than 300 coalition members, NGOs, partners, overseas correctional officers and local government officials are expected to attend the forum, which will take place from May 15 to 17.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, said the APCD will strengthen regional cooperation through joint programmes, and speak up against the rising tide of liberal policies and misinformation on drugs.
He announced this in the wake of the rising threat of potent synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
He said Malaysia had detected traces of the opioid in its sewage systems in March, suggesting that locals were abusing the drug there.
Said Mr Shanmugam: '(Fentanyl) is 50 times more potent than heroin, and its effects have been devastating.
'Between 2018 and 2022, or a 5-year period, over 250,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdose. In 2022 alone, there were about 200 people dying in the US every single day.'
Mr Shanmugam added that the total number of deaths from fentanyl overdose in the US outnumbered the total number of people who have died in all of America's wars, including the Second World War, and the ones in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
He said unlike traditional plant-based drugs like cocaine or heroin, synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, ketamine and fentanyl can be produced anywhere, even in the backyard of someone's house.
He noted Myanmar is already one of the world's largest manufacturers of synthetic drugs, and one of the biggest hosts of organised crime in the world.
'The situation in our region is also worrying… This is happening right at our doorstep. But given how interconnected the world is, what happens in Myanmar has deep implications all over the world,' he said.
He added that the rapid liberalisation of cannabis controls around the world has fuelled an increase in demand. A report by the United Nations estimated there are 228 million cannabis users globally in 2022.
This is despite clear medical evidence that the use of cannabis can cause irreversible brain damage and serious psychiatric disorders, Mr Shanmugam said.
Statistics by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) show that in 2024, more than half of new cannabis abusers arrested in Singapore were below 30, which suggested a growing permissiveness among young people towards the drug.
The report showed methamphetamine, heroin and cannabis were the most commonly abused drugs in Singapore that year.
Mr Shanmugam said a false narrative that cannabis is a 'soft drug' has been largely driven by commercial entities, similar to how tobacco corporations marketed smoking in the 1990s.
'(Tobacco corporations) ran advertisements of doctors saying smoking was good for health. They even introduced flavoured cigarettes to make it more appealing to the younger generation. Cannabis companies are likewise downplaying the risks, driven by profits. They are also trying to entice the young,' he said.
Mr Shanmugam said he had heard how cannabis lobby groups had argued for the drug's use as medicinal tools when he attended international forums, including at a United Nations forum.
He said he would only support the use of cannabis for medical use if a national medical association said it required the drug for treatment.
He added: 'But I won't support it if it is some company that is profiting from the use of cannabis that wants to legalise it without any controls, and is trying to do it in the form of candy to 10-year-olds.'
He stressed Singapore will remain resolute in maintaining its tough stance against drugs, explaining that countries should be under no illusions about the difficulty in dealing with the global drug problem.
He explained the Republic's death penalty is most commonly used for drug traffickers, and that these criminals are only focused on making money out of the death and misery of others.
He said: 'And so we make our laws very clear. We tell people you traffic in drugs, you face the death penalty, and we impose it.'
Mr Shanmugam said the global drug trade was a multi-billion dollar industry with powerful, vested interests.
It exploits the vulnerable, corrupts state institutions, and undermines the will of governments to tackle this problem, undermining the fabric of societies, all for profit.
He said: 'Challenging as it may be, we have to press on, because we have morality and right on our side, and it is the right thing to do.'
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