S'pore at war against drugs; death penalty effective deterrent: Shanmugam

He issues ministerial statement to counter criticism of country’s drug control policy

- David Sun, Christine Tan

Singapore is waging a war against drugs, and thousands will suffer if the country does not put up a fight or loses the war, said Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam.

Delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament on May 8 on Singapore's approach to drug control, he cited several drug-related crimes here that resulted in the deaths of people at the hands of their loved ones who had abused drugs.

Quoting statistics from the World Health Organisation and World Drug Report on the lives lost to drug use, Mr Shanmugam, said: "These are not just statistics, they are the lives of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters.

"That is why I use the analogy of war. I am talking about a war against those who profit off the drug trade at the expense of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives." Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Law, said he was delivering the ministerial statement as Singapore's drug control policy has been criticised by individuals helping inmates to abuse the legal process.

In 2019, Singapore changed its policy towards drug abusers. Now, those who abuse drugs without committing other offences are sent for treatment and do not get a criminal record.

But, while Singapore tries to help abusers, it takes a tough stance against drug traffickers, said Mr Shanmugam.

He said: "We have zero tolerance for those who destroy the lives of others for money." In the 51-minute statement, the minister painted a grim picture of how the drug trade has affected the security and lives of citizens in countries such as the United States, Sweden and Belgium.

He said that in the past decade, there have been hundreds of shootings, fires and bombings in Antwerp, Belgium, many of which were linked to gang-related violence for a piece of the cocaine trade.