HARM REDUCTION APPROACH?
On CAPHRA’s opposition to Singapore’s stance, Mr Shanmugam said its viewpoints do not represent the mainstream view here.
He noted that the NGO has campaigned against the World Health Organization’s treaty on tobacco control, and promotes misleading claims about e-cigarettes.
“Nicotine-based vapes deliver four packets of cigarettes in one vape, and now if you have a vape, you can lace it with all sorts of other stuff … Can you actually say that is good for you?”
On harm reduction, Mr Shanmugam said it may be helpful in countries where drug use is rampant, but that is not the case in Singapore.
“We are in a situation where, actually, we are pretty successful in stopping the flow of drugs in the first place,” he said, adding that the legal system, police and Central Narcotics Bureau are working well in tandem to address this.
“By and large, our society is drug free, and therefore, why should we consider harm reduction?”
For a country that has “lost the fight” and has criminal gangs operating underground and controlling the market, harm reduction might be a useful approach, said Mr Shanmugam.
Even then, he said there has been pushback, with some US cities moving away from harm reduction after many lives were lost.
“So really, I would say to Singaporeans, just because somebody else says it, we don’t need to be colonised in our mind. Just look at the evidence, open your eyes,” he said.
