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SINGAPORE – More than 1,900 people were nabbed for offences linked to e-vaporisers from September to Nov 2, among whom more than 160 were found with vapes containing etomidate, a harmful drug. <\/p>\n
Out of 1,929 people caught for vape-related offences, 167 of them were found to be etomidate abusers, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said in a joint statement on Nov 7.<\/p>\n
So far, 108 of those caught for abusing etomidate have been placed on rehabilitation programmes at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and social services agencies, the statement added.<\/p>\n
Another 33 are awaiting the outcome of further investigations or interviews, and six are waiting to be placed on the programme. <\/p>\n
The remaining 20 will not be placed on the programme because six of them are foreigners awaiting repatriation and 14 offenders have been jailed for offences unrelated to e-vaporisers. <\/p>\n
Of those placed on rehabilitation, 105 have been compliant with their rehabilitation programme, while three etomidate abusers failed to attend their first rehabilitation appointments.<\/p>\n
Thirteen vape re-offenders have been placed on the rehabilitation programme with the Health Promotion Board (HPB).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among them, 11 have been compliant with their rehabilitation programme while two have failed to attend their first appointments.<\/p>\n
Abusers who fail to report for interviews and rehabilitation can be prosecuted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, HSA has prosecuted three people for etomidate-related offences and one person for vape offences, as they had failed to attend or complete their rehabilitation appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among them is 20-year-old Tan Xin Yi who was <\/p>\n charged on <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Nov 6 f<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n or etomidate-related offences<\/p>\n <\/a>. Her case has been adjourned to Dec 3.<\/p>\n The maximum penalty for people with etomidate-related offences who do not attend or complete their rehabilitation is a jail term of up to two years and a fine of up to $10,000. <\/p>\n The maximum penalty for people with vape-related offences is a fine of up to $2,000.<\/p>\n Possessing, using or buying vapes carries a maximum fine of $2,000. <\/p>\n The authorities added that HSA has since charged three more people, aged 18 to 31, for the alleged trafficking of etomidate vape pods. This brings the total number of persons charged in the past nine weeks under the Misuse of Drugs Act to eight.<\/p>\n Separately, 10 cases of smuggling of regular e-vaporisers were detected at the airport, checkpoints or cruise centres in the past nine weeks. <\/p>\n Among them, two received stern warnings, five were fined and two were charged. The remaining case is under investigation. <\/p>\n More than 26,000 vapes and related components were seized in total.<\/p>\n The authorities added that there were over 2,600 cases of vape activities reported through HSA\u2019s online reporting form and hotlines over the past nine weeks.<\/p>\n HSA was able to conduct targeted enforcement actions based on these public reports.<\/p>\n Based on the leads provided, HSA and the National Environment Agency (NEA) <\/p>\n carried out joint enforcement operations<\/p>\n <\/a> at hot spot areas from Oct 8 to 10, including Khatib, Yishun and Punggol. <\/p>\n Five people, aged between 15 and 37, were caught and fined on the spot. A total of six vapes and related components were seized, including one vape which later tested positive for etomidate.<\/p>\n