{"id":72147,"date":"2026-07-28T00:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=72147"},"modified":"2026-07-28T00:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:57:00","slug":"anti-drug-campaign-spotlights-casual-remarks-that-downplay-drug-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=72147","title":{"rendered":"Anti-drug campaign spotlights casual remarks that downplay drug abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013<!-- --> A new campaign aimed at helping youth recognise and challenge conversations that normalise drug abuse will be rolled out at MRT stations, bus stops and other public spaces.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The installations are part of the second year of Uninfluenced, a three-year public education campaign by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and advertising agency Ogilvy Singapore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The organisations said in a joint<!-- --> press statement<!-- --> on July 16 that the ongoing campaign, which will run until the end of 2026, shifts the focus from the dangers of drugs to the seemingly casual comments, jokes and rationalisations that can make drug <!-- -->abuse<!-- --> appear socially acceptable or less harmful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The installations display brightly coloured three-dimensional speech bubbles which carry permissive statements commonly used to downplay drug abuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Examples include: \u201cIf it\u2019s legal elsewhere, how bad can it be?\u201d, and \u201cIf everyone thinks it\u2019s okay, it must be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">By scanning <!-- -->a<!-- --> QR code, the public can unlock an augmented reality feature that lets them virtually burst the speech bubbles while learning why such statements can be misleading.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The campaign aims to encourage young people aged between <!-- -->15 and 25<!-- --> to speak up when they encounter permissive attitudes towards drugs instead of staying silent, and <!-- -->to<!-- --> influence others to do the same.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">By turning <!-- -->conversations that normalise drug abuse<!-- --> into something visible and interactive, CNB hopes to equip young people with the confidence to recognise risky outcomes and reject them before <!-- -->they take the first step towards obtaining or using drugs<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The public can also take a short quiz <!-- -->to find out which character they identify with most, based on the traits of gut instinct, wit, reason and empathy. <!-- -->Each character represents a<!-- --> different<!-- --> way of navigating and responding to permissive <!-- -->attitudes towards drug abuse<!-- -->.  <!-- -->Through these characters and the quiz<!-- -->, young people can learn how to<!-- --> effectively<!-- --> speak up against such <!-- -->views<!-- --> and protect themselves<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The campaign<!-- --> also<!-- --> extends <!-- -->to<!-- --> paid media, on-<!-- -->the-<!-- -->ground activations in i<!-- -->nstitutes of higher learning<!-- -->, content partnerships, social media and digital experiences. <!-- -->Content<!-- --> will also be available on the Uninfluenced website and through social<!-- --> media<!-- --> channels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The Government had in 2024<a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/s-pore-schools-to-include-anti-drug-message-in-curriculum-amid-spike-in-drug-abuse-among-youth?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\"> announced that it was taking its anti-drug drive to classrooms<\/span><\/a>, amid reports showing a spike in <!-- -->the number of<!-- --> young drug abusers, including teenagers who started using illicit substances before turning 18.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Figures released<!-- --> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/more-young-and-female-drug-abusers-arrested-in-2025-cnb?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">Feb 10 by the CNB showed <\/span><\/a>more young and <!-- -->first-time<!-- --> abusers were arrested in Singapore in 2025 for drug-related offences, with the youngest <!-- -->aged 12<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The number of <!-- -->first-time<!-- --> drug abusers<!-- --> CNB<!-- --> arrested who were below 20 years old increased from 134 in 2024 to 170 in 2025. There was also a surge in <!-- -->the number of<!-- --> female drug abusers arrested in 2025, with <!-- -->women accounting for one in four first-time abusers arrested<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Kaye Chow, CNB\u2019s deputy director for partnership and outreach at <!-- -->the agency\u2019s<!-- --> DrugFreeSG office said: \u201cThe conversations youths encounter can shape how they perceive drugs over time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cCNB\u2019s Uninfluenced campaign seeks to equip them with the awareness and confidence to think critically about these messages, and to respond constructively when they come across views that may normalise or downplay drug harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/anti-drug-campaign-spotlights-casual-remarks-that-downplay-drugs-abuse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 A new campaign aimed at helping youth recognise and challenge conversations that normalise drug abuse will be rolled out at MRT stations, bus&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}