SINGAPORE \u2013 Adults who involve young people or vulnerable persons in smuggling or supplying Kpods will be jailed for up to 20 years and given up to 15 strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n
And any adult who has a Kpod but does not try to prevent a young person from using it can be jailed for up to 10 years.<\/p>\n
These are some of the new anti-vaping laws passed on March 6, which are expected to come into force from May 1.<\/p>\n
The new Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act was amended via the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill. <\/p>\n
Previously called the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, the renamed Act strengthens enforcement against vaping and Kpods, which are vapes laced with the <\/p>\n anaesthetic agent etomidate<\/p>\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n Under the new laws, entertainment venues such as <\/p>\n clubs and bars<\/p>\n <\/a> must stop patrons from vaping and require them to discard their devices. These places can eject such patrons from their premises. <\/p>\n Those driving into Singapore and found with vapes in their vehicles can also no longer claim they did not know the devices were there to avoid legal responsibility.<\/p>\n Instead, the onus is on them to prove that they did not know about the devices.<\/p>\n Penalties for vape offences have <\/p>\n been raised significantly<\/p>\n <\/a> under the Act, to five times for users, 20 times for sellers and 30 times for smugglers.<\/p>\n This means vape users face fines of up to $10,000, while sellers can be handed fines of up to $200,000 and six years\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n Smugglers can be fined up to $300,000 and jailed for nine years.<\/p>\n Currently, vape users face a maximum fine of $2,000, while distributors, importers and sellers of vapes and their components face jail time of up to six months and a fine of up to $10,000.<\/p>\n Vaping was <\/p>\n banned in Singapore in 2018.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n But for years, many people vaped in public with recent reports of Kpod users behaving like \u201czombies\u201d, suffering from seizures and psychotic episodes.<\/p>\n This led to The Straits Times <\/p>\n launching its anti-vaping campaign,<\/p>\n <\/a> Vaping: The Invisible Crisis, on July 13, 2025, to raise awareness of the scourge.<\/p>\n ST highlighted how there was no dedicated 24-hour helpline to report vaping offences, with the Health Sciences Authority\u2019s (HSA) Tobacco Regulation Branch line only operating during office hours on weekdays.<\/p>\n A week later, on July 20, 2025, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the authorities were working to list etomidate under the Misuse of Drugs Act after <\/p>\n one in three confiscated vapes<\/p>\n <\/a> was found to be a Kpod.<\/p>\n A day later, HSA <\/p>\n extended the operating hours<\/p>\n <\/a> for its hotline and uploaded an online reporting form for vapes.<\/p>\n In his National Day Rally speech on Aug 17, 2025, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said <\/p>\n vaping would be treated as a drug issue<\/p>\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n Etomidate was <\/p>\n temporarily listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act<\/p>\n <\/a> as a Class C drug from Sept 1, 2025, with tougher penalties imposed.<\/p>\n In his opening speech on the Bill, Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health, said the temporary measures were not ideal, but the authorities made it work.<\/p>\n In the six months from Sept 1, 2025, to Feb 28, 2026, 5,170 people were caught for vaping offences, and 593 of them were Kpod users.<\/p>\n Of those placed on rehabilitation, 42 defaulted, with one of them jailed, said Dr Koh.<\/p>\n The others are expected to be charged.<\/p>\n He added that 70 offenders have completed their rehabilitation programmes, but four of them, all youth, have reoffended.<\/p>\n Separately, over 110 people came forward to seek help to quit Kpods in the same six-month period.<\/p>\n Dr Koh said: \u201cThese past six months have been critical, not just for enforcement but also to consolidate lessons from our enforcement experience and (to) review our laws. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are now ready to put in place a new law which will not only prohibit vaporisers, but also allow for enforcement against the abuse of etomidate and potentially other psychoactive substances through such delivery devices in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/picture><\/div>\n