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TAKING DRUGS AT HOME
CNB said that youths may turn to encrypted chat applications, such as Telegram, to get drugs. The agency has been monitoring this trend since 2019 and has arrested more than 500 offenders who took part in drug transactions.
According to the IMH survey findings, the two most commonly cited locations where people took drugs were at home and at a friend’s home. The third most common was overseas.
“That people are taking drugs behind closed doors in the privacy of one’s home is not a surprise. Parents and family members thus have an important role to play in being vigilant to possible drug abuse and helping their family members seek help,” said CNB.
“We encourage parents to have conversations with their children from an early age about the harms of drugs.”
Speaking at the CNB workplan seminar on Wednesday, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said: “We are very concerned that drug abuse starts at such a young age, and at home, where young people should have parental supervision and be safe.
“Given the long-term impact of drug abuse, we need to do more to address this. We have increased efforts to educate the public, especially youth, on the harms of drugs, and counter misinformation and proliferation of liberal drug views on foreign media and social media – something which our youths are particularly susceptible to. We intend to reinforce our efforts.”
About a fifth (21.6 per cent) of those who had taken drugs said the reason they did so was because they were curious about the illicit substances. This was followed by the belief that the drugs would help with their problems, and being influenced by friends.
The survey also showed that a huge majority (82.1 per cent) of respondents perceived illegal drugs to be very harmful.
Legal consequences, chances of being arrested and the adverse effects on health were the top reasons cited by those who stay away from such drugs.
