Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore

Singapore Law Watch

10 hours ago

Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 13 Jul 2025
Author: Andrew Wong & Zaihan Mohamed Yusof
Cases involving e-vaporisers containing psychotropic substances on the rise.
Current legislation around vaping may be strengthened following the increased detection in Singapore of electronic vaporisers containing substances such as etomidate and other controlled drugs.
Government agencies are considering further steps to better address the vaping issue, including whether current laws for enforcement can be enhanced, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Home Affairs told The Straits Times on July 12.
In response to queries, the ministries said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has already detected 28 cases where e-vaporiser pods were found to contain etomidate within the first half of 2025. This is nearly three times as many as the 10 cases detected in 2024.
Vaping was banned in Singapore in February 2018.
Between January 2024 and March 2025, HSA, which is the enforcement agency for vaping-related offences, seized more than $41 million worth of e-vaporisers and their related components.
'The trend of e-vaporisers containing psychotropic substances such as etomidate and controlled drugs has been observed overseas and now in Singapore,' the ministries said in their statement.
In April, a 13-year-old girl was detained after she was spotted behaving erratically outside the State Courts while puffing on an e-cigarette. A subsequent raid of her home found that she had an etomidate-laced device, also known as a Kpod, in her possession.
HSA later identified and caught the 25-year-old man who sold the e-vaporiser to the girl. One e-vaporiser and three pods seized from him were also found to contain etomidate.
The man, his 26-year-old wife and the teenager are all assisting in the investigation.
In their statement, the ministries described vaping as a serious issue that MOH has been concerned about. 'With e-vaporisers now incorporating psychotropic substances such as etomidate, the concerns have been heightened.'
The ministries said various agencies have been conducting rigorous enforcement to tackle the issue.
'For example, the HSA works closely with agencies such as the Singapore Police Force, Central Narcotics Bureau, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), National Parks Board and National Environment Agency (NEA), to enforce against e-vaporisers.
'The Health Promotion Board is also working with the Ministry of Education to raise awareness about the harms of vaping amongst students, and support individuals seeking to stop the habit of vaping through the I Quit Programme,' the ministries added.
As part of surveillance and enforcement efforts, the ministries said that HSA targets three key areas: monitoring activities online and at targeted hot spots, disrupting supply chains, and taking action against those who supply or use e-vaporisers.
'HSA has intensified operations against both physical and online distribution networks, strengthened border controls with ICA, and increased enforcement presence in public spaces, together with NEA, where vaping is prevalent,' the ministries said, adding that HSA also takes action against advertisements targeting Singaporeans.
As a result, more offences have been detected and offenders taken to task, they added.
The ministries noted that etomidate, which is classified as a poison and regulated under the Poisons Act, has clinical use as an anaesthetic agent. It is permitted only in clinical settings and subject to strict conditions.
'The etomidate found in e-vaporisers or supplied in oil capsules or formulations to be inhaled directly into users' lungs are not medical products and are prohibited,' the ministries said.
They added that cases involving etomidate-laced vapes that agencies come across are referred to HSA for further action, similar to other medication-related substances.
The ministries said the adverse effects of etomidate when used in vapes can be serious, including causing involuntary movements or spasm of muscles, confusion, seizures and psychosis.
'It can lead to physical dependence,' they added.
Enforcement agencies will be stepping up and coordinating closely to take stern action against those who import, sell, distribute, possess, use or purchase e-vaporisers, particularly those laced with etomidate, under the appropriate legislations, the ministries said.
The spread of drug-laced e-vaporisers has also raised concerns in Malaysia, where police revealed that 65 per cent of the vape liquids seized since 2023 contained banned substances such as synthetic cannabinoids.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had reported in May that there has been an increase in the detection of e-vaporisers laced with synthetic drugs and pharmaceutical products like etomidate in East Asia and South-east Asia.
Under current laws in Singapore, possessing, using and buying e-vaporisers carry a maximum fine of $2,000.
Distributing, importing and selling prohibited tobacco products such as vapes and their components carry a heavier penalty – a fine of up to $10,000, or imprisonment of up to six months, or both.
Experts call for legal agility to tackle influx of drug-laced vapes in Singapore
Medical experts have called for legal agility to tackle vaping, which they say has evolved into a harmful and dangerous scourge with more drug-laced e-vaporisers detected.
Their comments come in the wake of an announcement on July 12 by the Government, which signalled the possibility of tougher enforcement laws to tackle vaping amid a spike in seizures of e-vaporisers laced with the anaesthetic etomidate.
Mr Yip Hon Weng, MP for Yio Chu Kang SMC, who agreed that enforcement laws need to be enhanced, noted that Singapore already has some of the world's toughest drug laws.
'But as the landscape evolves, so must our legal tools.
'There is perhaps scope to go further – for example, by explicitly including combo drug-vape products under the Poisons Act, and granting the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) clearer jurisdiction the moment drug traces are detected,' he said.
There have been similar legal updates in the past, Mr Yip said, adding that when Subutex and glue sniffing became threats, the law evolved to empower CNB with the tools to respond.
The same legislative approach can and should apply to drug-laced vapes, he said.
'Our laws should empower swift updates to controlled substance lists – not wait for the next tragedy to force a response,' added Mr Yip.
Singapore's laws around synthetic drugs, or new psychoactive substances (NPS), were amended in June 2024 to regulate them based on their effects rather than specific chemical structures.
Further amendments came into effect in 2025 to tackle new compounds that continue to be detected each year.
Professor Teo Yik-Ying, dean of the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said current laws need to also keep up with the technology used to deliver synthetic drugs.
'Our narcotics laws need to be updated to capture some of these new changes in technology, where the delivery system now is using e-cigarettes and vapes,' he said.
'So, effectively, if I am a police officer and I catch someone with a vape, and I detect that the vape cartridge is actually a Kpod... the person is not just caught for vaping, but also caught for possession of narcotics.
'Suddenly... you will realise that the penalty increases so significantly that people now have a fear of just taking Kpods.'
Although vaping has been banned in Singapore since 2018, the Health Sciences Authority still seized more than $41 million worth of e-vaporisers and their related components between January 2024 and March 2025.
This is a significant spike from the $95,460 worth of seizures across 2019.
In the first nine months of 2024, about 9,680 people were caught using or possessing vapes. This is more than the 7,838 people caught in the whole of 2023.
Assistant Professor Yvette van der Eijk from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health said that what has encouraged the spread is the marketing of vaping products from other countries.
'If an influencer from, say, Indonesia promotes vaping products, that content can still reach young Singaporeans.
'Also, for a policy to be effective, it must be properly enforced, and people must be aware of its rationale so that they accept the policy. Stronger enforcement in the community and more education would be helpful,' said Prof van der Eijk.
Starting young
While some have argued for regulating vaping rather than an outright ban, recent studies in Britain have shown that regulations do little to limit access to e-vaporisers, including those laced with drugs.
In Britain, vaping is legal for those above the age of 18, although disposable vapes have been banned across all age groups since June 1, 2025, to address environmental concerns and to protect young people from nicotine addiction.
Professor Christopher Pudney from the University of Bath in Britain said his research showed that vapers there start young, between the ages of 13 and 16.
'Around the middle of 2023, we started to see a lot of media reports in the UK of children collapsing in schools, associated with vaping,' Prof Pudney told ST.
'So, we just tracked those media reports. And it got to the point where there was almost one report every week of a child collapsing in school, which is obviously insane.'
His studies also showed that schoolchildren may be unknowingly smoking vapes spiked with synthetic cannabis, also known as Spice.
The researchers in his team found that out of 596 vapes confiscated across 38 schools in England, one in six contained Spice.
Prof Pudney, a biotechnology expert, said tests his team conducted have also picked up traces of heroin, MDMA (commonly found in Ecstasy) and ketamine in seized vaporisers.
He used the world's first portable device, which is able to detect synthetic drugs in vapes in 30 seconds, to trace the chemicals.
Despite these advancements, Prof Pudney said that when a drug in e-vaporisers is detected by the authorities there and made illegal, organised crime groups would subtly change the drug composition and flood the market with the new product.
Mr Yip said he is aware that CNB and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) are already building up rapid-testing and toxicology capabilities to detect novel substances in vape liquids.
Etomidate is known to cause a type of muscle spasm called myoclonus, which patients may describe as tremors, said Dr Clare Anne Fong, associate consultant at the Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital.
It can also result in difficulties in processing thoughts and altered sensory experiences, such as numbness and tremors, she added.
A person should seek medical attention when he displays such symptoms.
'As the dosing is unpredictable, there is a risk of sudden unconsciousness and respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening,' said Dr Fong.
'Coughing out of blood is also dangerous as it can result in breathing difficulties and low oxygen levels, especially if the volume of blood is large.'
Dr Sharen Tian, a family physician at Raffles Medical Group, said that when etomidate is misused via vapes, it can induce euphoria and dissociation, leading to psychological dependence.
'Abusing etomidate through vaping can lead to severe health complications,' she told ST.
'The identified adverse effects include nausea, muscle spasms, respiratory depression, seizures and psychosis.'
Initially, adult smokers seeking alternatives were the primary users of e-vaporisers, said Dr Tian. However, recent data indicates a surge in adolescent usage, with cases involving individuals as young as 13 years old.
Mr Yip said that current standard hospital tests may not always pick up new synthetic substances unless they are specifically looking for them.
Parents should therefore not take a 'clean' test result at face value if their child is showing worrying signs: confusion, seizures, erratic or zombie-like behaviour.
'One way is to insist on a comprehensive toxicology screen, and alert medical professionals to the possibility of vaping-related drug intake,' he said.
Mr Yip added that accident and emergency staff, clinicians at the Institute of Mental Health, school counsellors and general practitioners should also be updated regularly on new trends in drug-laced vapes, so they can respond appropriately.
'Most importantly, talk to your children. These are no longer 'just vapes'. They are chemical cocktails disguised in sleek devices – or as I call them, 'vapes with a twist of terror',' he said.
Border checks
Breaking the wave of e-vaporisers and Kpods requires sharper and more coordinated enforcement, from stepping up checks at the borders to tightening screening at parcel processing centres, said Mr Yip.
He added that it is critical to track deliveries and follow the trail to arrest not just buyers, but also the local distributors and peddlers.
Singapore Customs and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority already do this with cigarette smuggling syndicates, framing the issue as an obligation to ensure the security and safety of Singapore.
'The same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore,' the agencies had said previously.
Mr Yip said enforcement efforts must also go digital.
'We should leverage AI-powered surveillance to scan darknet markets, Telegram groups and smuggling forums, where new trends often appear first,' he added.
While acknowledging that the authorities are already collaborating across agencies and also working with regional counterparts, Mr Yip said this must be scaled up further.
Beyond enforcement, public awareness matters, he said, noting that many people still do not know how to report such offences.
Mr Yip added: 'Today, reporting to HSA relies on a weekday office line (it is on their website). A suggestion would be for 24/7 hotlines, online reporting or even integration with the OneService app.
'We also need to reach young people where it matters – on the platforms where syndicates target them, like Telegram and social media.
'Community education, peer-led interventions and even celebrity-driven cautionary campaigns could help shift perceptions.'
Mr Yip said that as a father of five young children, he has got 'skin in the game'.
'This is more than just a policy challenge – it is a growing threat in schools, community and online spaces.
'The recent case involving teenagers reportedly behaving erratically after inhaling drug-laced Kpods outside a Punggol mall is not just worrying – it is a red flag.
'These devices are not only illegal, but they are also dangerous and designed to avoid detection,' he added.
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof is senior crime correspondent at The Straits Times.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
Print