By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz
SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Bernama) — Singapore will treat vaping as a drug issue, with tougher actions and stiffer penalties to curb the harm it can cause to users, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, said every generation worries about negative influences affecting their young people, and vaping has emerged as one serious concern.
He said many of the vapes are not just e-cigarettes, but are laced with addictive and harmful substances like etomidate, which could make matters worse in future for the user.
“So far we have treated vaping like tobacco, at most we imposed fine but that’s no longer enough.
“We will treat this as a drug issue and impose much stiffer penalties. That means jail sentences and more severe punishments for those who sell vapes with harmful substances,” he said at the National Day Rally (NDR) held at Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Headquarters, here.
He said that for those addicted to vapes, the government will provide supervision and rehabilitation to help them quit.
Wong added that the government will step up nationwide enforcement and mount a major public education drive, starting in schools, institutes of higher learning, and during national service.
The Home Ministry and Health Ministry will lead these efforts, but it will be a robust whole-of-government exercise.
It was previously announced that etomidate will soon be classified as a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Meanwhile, speaking in Bahasa Melayu, Wong said the Singapore College of Islamic Studies (SCIS), the establishment of which was announced last year, would have its own campus in Rochor.
The campus would be located next to the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) campus and SCIS students would be able to enrol in social science course at SUSS as part of their studies.
Wong also informed that the Malay Heritage Centre which will be reopened next year will have new galleries and programmes as part of an initiative towards sustaining and fostering the Singaporean Malay heritage.
The NDR was conducted in Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, and English segments.
— BERNAMA
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