SINGAPORE: The true cost of drug abuse cannot be measured in economic terms alone, and the scale of the “human tragedy” is “immense”, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Friday (May 16).
Speaking at the Drug Victims Remembrance Day observance ceremony at Suntec Convention Centre, Mr Shanmugam said drug abuse is devastating to society, individuals and their families.
“When an individual becomes addicted, he or she will prioritise the buying of drugs to feed their addiction, over the needs of his or her family and children. Drug abuse also leaves deep emotional scars on the family,” he said.
He gave the example of the death of two-year-old Umaisyah. She was abused by her parents and killed by her father, who hid the crime with his wife by burning the girl's body in a metal pot.
It was reported that her father was a drug user, and had done stints in a drug rehabilitation centre.
Mr Shanmugam also mentioned how two teenagers aged 16 and 18 are believed to have died from drug abuse in January, with Ice found at the scene.
“From the preliminary findings, they are suspected to have died of drug overdose,” he said, adding younger drug abusers are getting arrested.
In 2024, the youngest person arrested for drug abuse was 13 years old, and over the last two years, more than half of the new abusers arrested were below 30 years old, Mr Shanmugam said.
“These should be lives full of promise and opportunity, instead of lives full of addiction and struggle.”
Drug addiction affects subsequent generations as well, Mr Shanmugam noted, referencing CNA’s Inside The Women's Prison, a documentary which featured a mother-daughter pair in the drug rehabilitation centre.
Drug abuse also takes a toll on Singapore’s economy, the minister said.
Citing a 2016 study conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Mr Shanmugam said the cost of dealing with drug crimes in Singapore was more than S$1.2 billion in 2015, or about S$1.45 billion in today’s dollars.
Another study by the university found that drug consumption significantly impacts the abusers’ income and income growth even after they had quit the habit.
A one-time abuser loses close to S$620,000 through direct costs, while repeated abusers suffer "even greater losses", the minister said.
Mr Shanmugam also raised how each time a drug trafficker in Singapore faces the death penalty, people light candles outside the prison and other places, but there is "never a mention of the victims."
“The activists against (the) death penalty light candles for the drug trafficker who makes a cynical decision to bring drugs into Singapore and make money out of it. We light candles for the children and the innocent people and families who die … they are more worthy of remembrance.”
Although Singapore continues to maintain its “strict” zero-tolerance stance on drugs, there has been a concerted push to legalise drugs on an international level, Mr Shanmugam said on Friday.
“Some of those pushing this agenda are think-tanks and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) driven by ideology, but backed often by serious money.”
Mr Shanmugam also spoke having seen a letter that was written by an addiction service staff member to the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal about the Open Society Foundation (OSF), led by multi-billionaire George Soros.
While Mr Shanmugam said he had not personally verified the facts, he noted that the the letter stated that OSF supported drug legalisation, which is inconsistent with the United Nations (UN) Conventions on Narcotic Drugs.
According to the letter, OSF has provided significant funding to international, civil society, and academic groups. OSF also states on its website that over the past 30 years, it has been the "largest philanthropic supporter of efforts to reform drug policy and promote harm reduction around the world, investing more than US$300 million".
However, many of these groups do not declare such funding as a conflict of interest when discussing drug policy, Mr Shanmugam said.
A high-profile example is the Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health, he added, citing the letter.
“This commission was established with the explicit goal of influencing discussion on drug policy at the United Nations.”
It was published in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed and leading medical journal in the UK, with OSF as the sole funder. All five of the selected commission leads had links with OSF, either as employees, members of advisory boards, or grant recipients.
“And of course, the commission recommended legalisation of drugs,” Mr Shanmugam said, adding that it would be “very troubling” if the points raised in the letter are true.
“It calls for us to be discerning about who is pushing the agenda for drug legalisation internationally, whether what they are pushing for is truly in our national interest.”
A digital candle display which allows visitors to light a candle using their phone's torch light. (Photo: CNA/Charmaine Jacob)
Drug Victims Remembrance Day is recognised on the third Friday of May each year.
Attendees at Friday's event observed a minute of silence for those who lost their lives to drug abuse, after Mr Shanmugam and members of the Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on Drug Prevention for Youths placed LED candles on a wall during the ceremony.
Running until this Sunday, the interactive "Museum of Us" exhibition at Suntec City's Atrium gives visitors a look into the impact of drug abuse on individuals and their loved ones.
Through the different exhibits, attendees will be able to delve into the lives of drug victims through audio recordings, videos and personal artefacts.
To remember the 600,000 lives lost globally to drug abuse, a digital candle display at the exhibition allows visitors to light a candle using their phone torch light, symbolising solidarity with those who continue to be affected by the scourge of drugs.
There is also a pledging point for visitors to make the commitment to stay drug-free.
On Thursday, a new regional coalition of NGOs was launched to address the issue of drug trafficking and abuse.
The group, called the Asia-Pacific Confederation against Drugs (APCD), consists of five founding members - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. Singapore is represented by the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA).
Mr Shanmugam said at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs on Thursday that the new coalition aims to strengthen regional cooperation through joint programmes and projects.
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Speaking at the Drug Victims Remembrance Day observance ceremony at Suntec Convention Centre, Mr Shanmugam said drug abuse is devastating to society, individuals and their families.
“When an individual becomes addicted, he or she will prioritise the buying of drugs to feed their addiction, over the needs of his or her family and children. Drug abuse also leaves deep emotional scars on the family,” he said.
He gave the example of the death of two-year-old Umaisyah. She was abused by her parents and killed by her father, who hid the crime with his wife by burning the girl's body in a metal pot.
It was reported that her father was a drug user, and had done stints in a drug rehabilitation centre.
Mr Shanmugam also mentioned how two teenagers aged 16 and 18 are believed to have died from drug abuse in January, with Ice found at the scene.
“From the preliminary findings, they are suspected to have died of drug overdose,” he said, adding younger drug abusers are getting arrested.
In 2024, the youngest person arrested for drug abuse was 13 years old, and over the last two years, more than half of the new abusers arrested were below 30 years old, Mr Shanmugam said.
“These should be lives full of promise and opportunity, instead of lives full of addiction and struggle.”
Drug addiction affects subsequent generations as well, Mr Shanmugam noted, referencing CNA’s Inside The Women's Prison, a documentary which featured a mother-daughter pair in the drug rehabilitation centre.
Drug abuse also takes a toll on Singapore’s economy, the minister said.
Citing a 2016 study conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Mr Shanmugam said the cost of dealing with drug crimes in Singapore was more than S$1.2 billion in 2015, or about S$1.45 billion in today’s dollars.
Another study by the university found that drug consumption significantly impacts the abusers’ income and income growth even after they had quit the habit.
A one-time abuser loses close to S$620,000 through direct costs, while repeated abusers suffer "even greater losses", the minister said.
Mr Shanmugam also raised how each time a drug trafficker in Singapore faces the death penalty, people light candles outside the prison and other places, but there is "never a mention of the victims."
“The activists against (the) death penalty light candles for the drug trafficker who makes a cynical decision to bring drugs into Singapore and make money out of it. We light candles for the children and the innocent people and families who die … they are more worthy of remembrance.”
"CALLS FOR US TO BE DISCERNING"
Although Singapore continues to maintain its “strict” zero-tolerance stance on drugs, there has been a concerted push to legalise drugs on an international level, Mr Shanmugam said on Friday.
“Some of those pushing this agenda are think-tanks and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) driven by ideology, but backed often by serious money.”
Mr Shanmugam also spoke having seen a letter that was written by an addiction service staff member to the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal about the Open Society Foundation (OSF), led by multi-billionaire George Soros.
While Mr Shanmugam said he had not personally verified the facts, he noted that the the letter stated that OSF supported drug legalisation, which is inconsistent with the United Nations (UN) Conventions on Narcotic Drugs.
According to the letter, OSF has provided significant funding to international, civil society, and academic groups. OSF also states on its website that over the past 30 years, it has been the "largest philanthropic supporter of efforts to reform drug policy and promote harm reduction around the world, investing more than US$300 million".
However, many of these groups do not declare such funding as a conflict of interest when discussing drug policy, Mr Shanmugam said.
A high-profile example is the Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health, he added, citing the letter.
“This commission was established with the explicit goal of influencing discussion on drug policy at the United Nations.”
It was published in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed and leading medical journal in the UK, with OSF as the sole funder. All five of the selected commission leads had links with OSF, either as employees, members of advisory boards, or grant recipients.
“And of course, the commission recommended legalisation of drugs,” Mr Shanmugam said, adding that it would be “very troubling” if the points raised in the letter are true.
“It calls for us to be discerning about who is pushing the agenda for drug legalisation internationally, whether what they are pushing for is truly in our national interest.”
A digital candle display which allows visitors to light a candle using their phone's torch light. (Photo: CNA/Charmaine Jacob)
INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION
Drug Victims Remembrance Day is recognised on the third Friday of May each year.
Attendees at Friday's event observed a minute of silence for those who lost their lives to drug abuse, after Mr Shanmugam and members of the Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on Drug Prevention for Youths placed LED candles on a wall during the ceremony.
Running until this Sunday, the interactive "Museum of Us" exhibition at Suntec City's Atrium gives visitors a look into the impact of drug abuse on individuals and their loved ones.
Through the different exhibits, attendees will be able to delve into the lives of drug victims through audio recordings, videos and personal artefacts.
To remember the 600,000 lives lost globally to drug abuse, a digital candle display at the exhibition allows visitors to light a candle using their phone torch light, symbolising solidarity with those who continue to be affected by the scourge of drugs.
There is also a pledging point for visitors to make the commitment to stay drug-free.
On Thursday, a new regional coalition of NGOs was launched to address the issue of drug trafficking and abuse.
The group, called the Asia-Pacific Confederation against Drugs (APCD), consists of five founding members - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. Singapore is represented by the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA).
Mr Shanmugam said at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Forum Against Drugs on Thursday that the new coalition aims to strengthen regional cooperation through joint programmes and projects.
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