Why the vape scourge in Singapore concerns everyone

Straits Times

4 days ago

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Vaping is a global crisis that is getting more youth hooked on drugs.
On Father's Day, my family and I were at a dim sum restaurant in Jalan Besar when a couple in their late 20s next to our table left.
Sitting on the steps outside, on the pavement, they nonchalantly took out devices cupped in their hands and vaped.
Maybe they thought the chances of them getting caught were slim, as Health Sciences Authority (HSA) officers cannot be everywhere, especially on a Sunday. Or perhaps they were of the view that since more people were vaping in Singapore, no one would snitch on them.
But I wondered if they knew that instead of getting a high, they were actually inhaling the breath of death.
Vaping is a global crisis that is getting more youth hooked on drugs, as crime syndicates pack potent and addictive substances into small devices that look like pens or lighters.
The numbers are worrying enough for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to warn in a 2025 report that vapes, or e-vaporisers, now don't just contain nicotine, but also cannabinoids and other synthetic substances.
By now, you would have seen reports and videos of people in Singapore behaving incoherently, apparently from vaping, and the painful and expensive
lung-washing procedures some have undergone due to their addictions.
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You probably know of friends and family members whose studies and relationships have been affected by vaping.
Vaping: The Invisible Crisis
That's why The Straits Times is launching our anti-vaping campaign, Vaping: The Invisible Crisis, today.
It is similar to our
Stop Scams campaign , where we publish reports on various types of scams and how they work.
Why are we doing this?
We believe there needs to be more conversations about the vaping scourge that has already crept into our homes, schools and workplaces.
Some parents told ST about how vaping has torn their families apart. Others have
reported their children to the authorities . The evidence shows a vaping culture has already established itself here.
On Feb 26, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a written parliamentary reply that there were
2,000 cases of students including those from institutes of higher learning (IHLs) reported for possessing or using e-vaporisers in 2024.
This is up from 800 cases in 2022, and 900 cases in 2023.
In October 2023, then Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman, told Parliament that although schools and IHLs have increased checks,
it is likely there is under-detection .
And on March 3, Minister of State for Health Rahayu Mahzam replied to a parliamentary question about the number of parents who reported their children for vaping. One such case was referred to the HSA, and the child was fined $300.
Ms Rahayu advised parents who suspect their child of vaping to call the Health Promotion Board's (HPB) QuitLine on 1800-438-2000. It is part of HPB's I Quit programme, which was launched in 2014 to help participants quit smoking and accepts those who want to stop vaping.
They will not be fined or prosecuted, unless they are
caught using or in possession of vapes .
More on this topic Organised crime groups pushing drug-laced vapes in Asia including Singapore: UN
Worsening numbers
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.
In 2019, HSA raids and investigations resulted in $95,460 worth of seizures across the year.
Based on previous reports, HSA had
seized $41 million worth of vapes from January 2024 to March 2025. That is nearly fivefold the reported value seized from 2019 to end-2023, according to numbers compiled by ST.
This despite vaping being banned in Singapore since 2018.
Peer-reviewed journal Emerald Insight said in 2024 that the number of vape users was around 82 million worldwide in 2021, with
14.3 million in South-east Asia . The global vape market was valued at US$22.8 billion (S$29.2 billion) in 2022.
Like scams, vaping is a lucrative trade for criminal syndicates, and they are targeting our children as customers.
Mature readers will remember the glue-sniffing scourge in the 1980s, when 23 people died during an eight-year period.
Parents had to lock their children up for fear of them going to bicycle shops to get their fix of glue in a can. Some addicts drowned in reservoirs, and more than 1,112 abusers were arrested in 1987.
If not tackled aggressively, vaping will become the glue-sniffing crisis of our current generation.
Instead of a can of glue, the threat now appears as Kpods, a vape juice
laced with the powerful anaesthetic drug etomidate .
Etomidate is a medicinal ingredient used in clinical practice as an anaesthetic agent and is classified as a poison under the Poisons Act. This means a licence is required for its importation or sale.
Creating awareness
How will ST be highlighting this social threat?
We will be reporting regularly on the impact of vaping, not just in Singapore but also around the world. We will focus on how vaping has impacted your lives and those of your loved ones.
And we hope that by publishing these reports, it will educate the public on how deadly vaping can be to your health and mental well-being.
More needs to be done to tackle this issue because, for now, it seems there is no dedicated 24-hour helpline or app for the public to report vaping offences and the sale of vaping devices to the authorities.
Currently, you can contact only HSA's Tobacco Regulation Branch on 6684-2036 or 6684-2037 from 9am to 5.30pm on weekdays.
To tackle scams, the authorities have
the ScamShield helpline on 1799.
The ScamShield app is also equipped with artificial intelligence, and can identify and alert users to potential scam threats on WhatsApp, Telegram and web links.
A similar app to report vaping offences would help the authorities prevent vapes from reaching customers and identify vape users quicker.
The vaping issue is clearly being addressed by schools here. Some schools have even issued vape advisories on Parents Gateway, an app that connects parents and schools on key administrative matters.
But this messaging should also be communicated to the public to show a whole-of-government approach to tackle the issue, as even
primary school children have been caught .
Under the law, anyone caught buying, possessing or using vapes can be fined up to $2,000. Those caught importing, selling and distributing vapes face up to six months' jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
All these mean nothing to the addict determined to get his or her vape fix.
They must know there is no favourable outcome when they put a vaping device into their mouth.
And that each time they suck in those toxins, all they are doing is blowing their lives away.