Singapore softens approach to first-time drug abusers as they get ‘younger and younger’
First-time abusers who turn themselves in will avoid detention under new rules. The youngest offender arrested this year was just 12
All such abusers will now be placed on drug supervision in the community with mandatory case management for their rehabilitation, under changes that took effect on Saturday.
The change came after a review to “encourage more first-time abusers to come forward and seek help with their addiction”, Law Minister Edwin Tong, also Singapore’s second minister for home affairs, said on Friday at a Drug Victims Remembrance Day observance ceremony.
Under rules in place since 2019, drug abusers are placed on a “step-down regime” based on the Central Narcotics Bureau’s assessment of their risk levels. This can include community-based drug supervision or detention at Singapore’s Drug Rehabilitation Centre. All abusers have two surrender opportunities in their lifetime.
“Drug abusers who want to wean [themselves] off their drug addiction and live a drug-free life will be supported with regular counselling sessions in the community,” Tong said.
The sessions would “involve psychology-based methods such as goal-setting and family engagement, accompanied by regular hair or urine testing”, he said, adding that the conditions of the current surrender regime would continue to apply.
‘Worsening’ drug concerns
The global drug situation was “worsening”, Tong noted in his speech, with the number of drug abusers worldwide rising 8 per cent to 316 million in 2023, from about 292 million in 2022, according to the World Drug Report 2025.