Anti-vaping checks made near 5 institutes of higher learning

The anti-vaping blitz has extended to areas near schools, with enforcement officers conducting checks outside five institutes of higher learning (IHLs) across Singapore on July 14.

- Andrew Wong Correspondent Zaihan Mohamed Yusof Senior Correspondent

In total, 27 people were caught and fined for vaping in enforcement operations conducted at several community hot spots, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) told The Straits Times.

Another eight were caught for underage smoking.

The 35 people who were apprehended ranged in age from 17 to 66, said HSA, which added that 31 e-vaporisers were seized in the five-hour-long blitz.

Work in the east started just after 11am, with HSA officers positioning themselves at various spots where people gather outside the institutes.

Within the first hour, a man was caught loitering at an HDB void deck across from the school with a vape around his neck.

HSA officers confiscated his vape, which was suspected to be an etomidate-laced pod, otherwise known as a Kpod.

Etomidate is an anaesthetic agent used in clinical practice. It is classified as a poison under the Poisons Act.

This means a licence is required for its importation or sale.

About 500m away from where the first man was caught, HSA officers found a man vaping at a bus stop directly opposite a school, in full public view.

He told officers that he had just seen a doctor and was given a medical certificate. The man was allowed to leave after enforcement officers recorded his particulars.

At around 4pm, ST followed HSA officers to an IHL in the north of Singapore, where officers found six people using vapes.

IHLs comprise autonomous universities, art institutions, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and HSA said in a joint statement on May 16 that from January 2024 to March 2025, about 2,600 students were referred to HSA by schools and IHLs for vaping.