Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Friday ( May 16 ) that the true cost of drug abuse cannot be measured in terms of economic terms and the scale of the “human tragedy” is “immense.”
Mr. Shanmugam said substance abuse is devastating to world, individuals, and their families during the ceremony held at the Suntec Convention Center for the Drug Victims Remembrance Day compliance service.  ,
” When someone becomes addicted, they will prioritize the needs of their family and children over the need for medication to fuel their addiction.” He added that substance abuse also leaves a lot of emotional scars on the home.  ,
He gave the instance of Umaisyah’s passing, which was two years ago. She was abducted by her families and murdered by her dad, who concealed the violence with his family by burning the woman’s body in a copper pot.
Her parents, according to reports, used drugs and had spent time in a drug rehab facility.  ,
Additionally, Mr. Shanmugam mentioned that two teens, ages 16 and 18, are thought to have died from drug abuse in January when Ice was discovered at the field.
They are suspected of having died from a drug overdose, he said, adding that younger substance offenders are being detained.  ,
The youngest people detained for drug abuse in 2024 was only 13 years old, and over the past two years, more than half of the new offenders detained were under 30 years old, according to Mr. Shanmugam.  ,
Instead of life filled with addiction and battle, these should be lives filled with promise and opportunity.
According to Mr. Shanmugam, drug addiction also affects future generations when he mentions CNA’s Inside The Women’s Prison, a video about a mother-daughter duo in a drug rehab facility.  ,
According to the secretary, drug use also has an impact on Singapore’s business.  ,
According to Mr. Shanmugam, who cited a 2016 study from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the cost of preventing drug trafficking in Singapore was more than S$ 1.2 billion in 2015, or about S$ 1.45 billion in current cash.  ,
Another study by the school found that drug use has a significant impact on the perpetrators ‘ income and economic growth even after they break the habit.
A single abuser costs S$ 620, 000 in direct prices, while repeated offenders suffer “even greater deficits,” according to the minister.
Mr. Shanmugam also raised the issue of how every time a drug trafficker in Singapore is sentenced to death, people light candles outside the prison and other locations, but there is “never a mention of the victims” ( ).
The protesters opposing the death penalty “light lights for the drug trafficker who makes the sarcastic choice to import drugs into Singapore and profit from it.” We light candles to honor the dead, the honest people, and the individuals who have passed away because they are more deserving of memory.
“CALLS FOR US TO BE DISCERNAL”
There has been a concerted effort to legalize drugs on an international level, Mr. Shanmugam said on Friday, even though Singapore continues to maintain its” strict” zero-tolerance stance on drugs.  ,
Some of those pushing this agenda are “non-governmental organizations” or” think tanks” with the aim of motivating people with ideology but frequently with substantial funds.
Mr. Shanmugam also spoke after having seen a letter from a staff member in the habit support to the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal about the Open Society Foundation ( OSF), led by multi-billionaire George Soros, written by a team member with an addiction company background.  ,
Mr. Shanmugam claimed he had never personally verified the details, but that he did point out that OSF was in favor of legalizing marijuana because it was against the UN Conventions on Narcotics.  ,
According to the notice, OSF has given considerable funding to educational, international, and civil society organizations. Over the past 30 years, OSF has been the “largest humanitarian supporter of efforts to reform drug plan and market harm reduction around the world,” according to the organization’s site, where it has also invested more than US$ 300 million.
However, many of these organizations, according to Mr. Shanmugam, do not treat for money as a conflict of interest when discussing drug plan.
He continued, citing the email, that the Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health is a notable case.  ,
This commission was established with the obvious intention of influencing international debate on drug plan.
With OSF as the ultimate backer, it was published in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed and renowned health journal in the UK. All five of the five chosen payment leads were OSF employees, board members, or give beneficiaries.  ,
According to Mr. Shanmugam,” And of course, the commission recommended legalizing of drugs,” adding that it would be “very disturbing” if the concerns raised in the letter are real.  ,
It requires us to be selective about who is pushing for the legalization of drugs globally and whether what they are pushing for is actually in our country’s interests.