Singapore to impose harsher penalties on drug vapes

Singapore will take a harder stance against drug-laced vapes from September as it changes the classification of anaesthetic agent etomidate from a poison to a drug, the government announced on Thursday.

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Users of vapes laced with the substance will face a fine and mandatory rehabilitation of up to six months instead of just a fine, while importers of etomidate face up to 15 strokes of the cane and a maximum of 20 years in jail, up from a maximum of two years’ jail.

Vaping has been banned in Singapore since 2018 but authorities have not clamped down hard on the devices until recently, citing the emergence of drug-laced vapes.

The government said random testing of confiscated vapes in July found that one in three contained etomidate.