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In Singapore, Harsh Drug Laws Leave Room for Improvement
Jakarta Globe Wednesday 28 Sep 2011 Singapore's drug enforcement agency, the Central Narcotics Bureau, recently admitted that the drug situation in the city-state, instead of improving as previously claimed, has actually gotten worse. Admitting to an error in the compilation of statistics, the bureau said figures now showed that in 2008 there had been 2,537 arrests for drug abuse compared with the 1,925 originally reported, and that in 2010 there were 2,887 arrests instead of the previously reported 1,805. The discrepancies were blamed on a new technology system introduced in 2008. Without demographic information about those arrested or details about the location of arrests or type of drugs involved, it is difficult to draw too many conclusions from the raw numbers. But a few individual cases have gotten publicity, which provides some insight into the issue. On Sept. 6 and 7, the CNB arrested a dealer and 15 of his clients. The clients were aged between 13 and 25 years and were mainly expatriates of diverse nationalities with some Singaporeans included. The suspected trafficker, a 35-year-old Singaporean, was said to have been peddling cannabis. (For cannabis dealing the death penalty applies at 500 grams, but only a fraction of this amount was seized from the clients and from the Ang Mo Kio residence of the trafficker. But a trafficker can still face up to 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane). The expatriate teenagers seemed likely to get off lightly. One New Zealand boy was released without charge. According to the Straits Times newspaper, expatriate teenagers have claimed that cannabis, ecstasy and even heroin can be obtained at private, invitation-only parties. However, usually only cannabis is on offer. According to this report, a three-gram pack of marijuana sells for between 35 and 75 Singapore dollars ($27 and $58) — not a huge amount for Singapore’s mostly prosperous expats. Drug availability has been so commonplace that schools for expatriates are resorting to random urine and hair tests on students as young as 11. Details of what happens to those caught with traces of drug use are not available. However, indications are that schools like to keep the issue in-house and apply their own punishments such as suspension or expulsion rather than hand the culprit over to the police. The arrests of the expatriate teenagers has drawn lots of attention. Cases involving other people from more low-income backgrounds, however, of which there are usually about 20 per week, have more or less gone unnoticed. But the CNB has been especially active in the past two months, making dozens of arrests related to heroin and methamphetamine, both said to be in abundance in the region. On Aug. 4, arrests yielded 2.8 kilos of heroin. On Aug. 12, 116 people, including 11 alleged dealers, were detained. In mid-September another 80 users and seven alleged dealers of heroin and methamphetamine were caught. Thus in six weeks alone about 10 candidates for possible execution were apprehended. But even the severest penalties for dealers have done little to stop the inflow from neighboring countries. Burma is a major source of heroin, and Indonesia and Thailand are especially ready sources of methamphetamine. The drug, known on the street as "shabu" or "ice," is particularly appealing to low-income foreign workers who do Singapore's dirty and dangerous jobs. Pills such as Erimin-5, sometimes referred to as "Happy 5," are popular among teenagers who are mostly from low-income families. Singapore also has its share of older heroin addicts. At the same time, little has been heard of arrests for cocaine, though there have been cases in the past. This is the favored drug for well-off expatriates, notably those in the financial and entertainment sectors. Could this be because the authorities are more concerned with drug abuse among Singaporeans than transient foreigners? It seems logical. Likewise, such users may get their supplies from abroad rather than through dealers in Singapore, for whom the death penalty kicks in at 30 grams. All told, Singapore's hard line on drugs has almost certainly kept usage below that in equivalent societies like Hong Kong. But such success in suppressing the occasional recreational use of party drugs has come at a high cost in human lives without making Singapore that much more free of addiction than its peers. Asia Sentinel http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/in-singapore-harsh-drug-laws-leave-room-for-improvement/468063
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