Budget 2024 > Latest > Commentary
Mr Derrick Goh (Nee Soon): Mdm Chairman, Singapore has been steadfast in its zero-tolerance approach towards drugs amid more permissive attitudes globally.
Worryingly, CNB reported new drug abusers arrested have increased 18% last year and even more concerning is that more than half of new drug abusers are aged well below 30, with the youngest being 14.
The situation is compounded by the continued emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS) as well as the increasingly rampant use of vaporisers. Notably, the digital space continues to be an avenue for the spread of misinformation and aid transactions to occur swiftly and anonymously, which makes drug detection challenging.
I appreciate that an Inter-Ministry Committee on Drug Prevention for Youths was formed in 2023 to set targeted strategies with an ecosystem approach.
Against this backdrop, can MHA elaborate on its plans to engage other agencies, schools and parents more effectively to identify at-risk youths for timelier intervention? Can MHA also share in greater detail plans by the Inter-Ministry Committee, the implementation timeline and if they will also address vaporiser use, in addition to drugs and NPS? What are MHA’s new plans to disrupt the supply of such substances targeting our youths and to curb online misinformation that wrongly promotes liberal drug use attitudes?
Watch the speech here.