Singapore has long been under pressure from domestic activists, international NGOs and even prominent figures, like Richard Branson, for its uncompromising stance on drug trafficking, including its practice of death penalty for smuggling narcotics.
A recent spate of incidents of drug-laced vapes making their way into the society, shows just how little it takes for stimulants to take hold when enforcement is just a tiny bit more lenient.
Alternatives to popular drugs are found and quickly distributed among the willing, young population, as traffickers do not fear lengthy sentences or hanging.
HSA received 2,500 reports of vaping offences in the first half of the year, compared to 3,000 in the entire 2024. It has also seized $41 million worth of vapes in the 15 months between January 2024 and March 2025 – FIVE TIMES the amount reported in the preceding four years.
Earlier this month a Malaysian man was charged for distributing THREE TONNES of vaporisers in Bishan and Ubi.
And while vaping (banned in Singapore) doesn't have to include psychoactive substances, a random test of 100 confiscated pods revealed that a third of them were laced with etomidate, a medical anaesthetic – and a poison – that the government is about to reclassify as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, which is going to raise the penalty from 2 to 10 years in prison for its trafficking, possession or consumption.
Sadly, the seemingly innocuous habit is already taking its toll, with deaths and health conditions reportedly linked to etomidate Kpods, as confirmed by min. Ong Ye Kung: "We have seen some deaths – traffic accidents, as well as unnatural deaths – where etomidate was implicated and investigations are ongoing/ I think there is strong suspicion that it is already causing deaths in Singapore, so it is a serious problem."
The only tolerance that works is zero tolerance
"Progressive" left-wing activists around the world are trying to have us believe that recreational drug use isn't a problem, and that neither drug peddlers nor users deserve a harsh fate, but rather understanding and help from the society.
And yet despite these theories, drug abuse continues to collect a disastrous toll everywhere you look.
There's a reason Singaporeans are not dropping like flies to overdose and you won't see barely lucid homeless junkies lying in the streets, bus stops or MRT stations, unlike in more liberal Western countries.
Now, as substitutes of traditional drugs are seeping through the cracks, more stringent enforcement is needed before those cracks give way to a flood that's going to sweep away Singapore's youth.
Even after decades of education and strict laws, you can see that Singaporeans are really no different than any other nation, and many will succumb to the temptation if given a chance.
They can't be allowed to have it.
