SINGAPORE: Lawmakers, social service providers, parents and even youths in Singapore have increasingly raised concerns over the use of vaping devices to consume illegal drugs.
The topic has been brought up in parliament on multiple instances in this year alone.
Last Tuesday (Feb 18), Member of Parliament Christopher de Souza asked what was being done to combat the “emerging trend” of drug traffickers concealing controlled drugs within vapes, particularly at Singapore’s checkpoints.
In a written reply, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said authorities were working closely on detection, deterrence and and pre-arrival screening measures. He also said such cases remain the minority of all drug seizures.
Mr de Souza’s question came on the tail of MP Wan Rizal asking, earlier in the month, about support for adolescents found using drug-laced vapes, which can contain substances such as etomidate and ketamine.
Etomidate is an anaesthetic agent classified as a poison, while ketamine is a controlled drug.
In January, several other MPs also raised questions on the government’s assessment of the risk of vapes being used as an apparatus for drugs, and whether the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) would consider categorising these vapes and their associated paraphernalia under the same legal framework as the drugs themselves.
In response, Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) have come across “some” of such cases, which form the minority of vaping activity in Singapore.
Vaping is regulated by HSA while CNB, which falls under the purview of MHA, is the primary drug enforcement agency.
At the start of the year, authorities found several “Kpods” – vape juice mixed with etomidate – among a seizure of over 8,700 vapes and components.
In April 2024, 65 vapes suspected to contain the main psychoactive compound in cannabis were also seized during a raid.
Responding to CNA’s queries, a CNB spokesperson said there have been “sporadic cases” where vapes have been used to consume controlled drugs.
It added that individuals whose urine is found to be positive for controlled drugs, “regardless of the mode through which it was ingested”, will be investigated under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).
“The possession of any apparatus or article, including vapes, for the consumption of controlled drugs, is an offence under section 9 of the MDA,” the CNB spokesperson reiterated.
