Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Plans for Preventive Drug Education or Campaigns for Increased Awareness to Combat Drug Abuse and the Harms of Drugs Especially for Youths or Students Travelling Overseas

Question:

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs given the legalisation of the cannabis trade in Thailand, what are the plans for preventive drug education or campaigns for increased awareness to combat drug abuse and the harms of drugs especially for youths or students travelling overseas.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   Research shows that cannabis use produces short-term and long-term adverse effects, including impairment to respiratory and cognitive functions. An extensive literature review conducted in 2015 by experts from the Institute of Mental Health found that cannabis consumption is associated with harms such as irreversible brain damage, brain shrinkage, and serious mental and psychiatric illnesses.

2.   In a 2019 report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) said that there are particular risks of cannabis use for children, such as respiratory depression, tachycardia and coma.

3.   A 2019 study published in the Lancet Psychiatric Journal showed a link between cannabis use and psychosis and schizophrenia.

4.   These findings inform Singapore's position that cannabis should remain a controlled drug.

5.   Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, it is an offence for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents to consume controlled drugs, including cannabis, overseas. We apply extraterritorial jurisdiction to the drug consumption offence. Local addicts will face prosecution in Singapore, even if they travel overseas to consume the drugs.

6.   The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) brings these messages on the harms of drugs, and on Singapore's drug laws, to the public through multiple channels. These include advisories published on the CNB website and social media platforms, as well as briefings held for students going on overseas exchange programmes. CNB also tailors preventive drug education programmes and informational toolkits for schools and those in positions of influence over youths, such as parents, counsellors, educators, youth advocates and national service commanders. Among others, in April and May 2022, CNB collaborated with Singapore Polytechnic students to develop two social media campaigns titled "The Adventures of Piller Parker" and "Drug Abuse, No Excuse". The campaigns leveraged youth-centric online platforms such as Instagram and Tik Tok to educate youths on the dangers of drug abuse, correct online misinformation, and sensitise them to the motives and marketing tactics employed by profit-driven companies lobbying for cannabis legalisation and use.