Drug Situation Report Jan to Jun 2014: About two-third of new drug abusers arrested in 1st half of 2014 were below 30 years old

Heroin and methamphetamine remain top two most commonly abused drugs

Between January and June 2014, heroin and methamphetamine made up 93% of all drug abusers arrested and 5% of all drug abusers arrested abused cannabis, making it the third most commonly abused drug. This situation was similar to the same period in 2013.

Amongst new abusers, methamphetamine was the most commonly abused drug in the first half of 2014 (68% of the total), followed by heroin (15%) and cannabis (12%). In the same period of 2013, 61% of new drug abusers abused methamphetamine, 23% abused heroin and 10% abused cannabis. About two-thirds (69%) of new drug abusers arrested in the first half of 2014 were below the age of 30. This was a four percentage point increase when compared to the first half of 2013.

Compared to the first half of 2013, the first half of 2014 saw an overall decrease in the seizure of drugs. The estimated street value of the total drugs seized amounted to about S$4.71 million, a decrease of 50% when compared to the first half of 2013. Seizures of heroin decreased by about 24%, from 35.94kg to 27.46kg. Seizures of methamphetamine or ‘Ice’ decreased by about 62%, from 22.49kg to 8.65kg. However, seizures of ‘Ice’ meant specifically for the local market increased about 10% from 4.82kg to 5.30kg.

Preventive Drug Education (PDE) remains a key approach in the Central Narcotics Bureau’s fight against drugs. To engage youths and the general public on the dangers of drug abuse, CNB continued to deliver anti-drugs talks and held exhibitions to schools for the first half of 2014 to drive the anti-drug message to the masses. Key outreach efforts included DanceWorks![1] 2014, an Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign[2] 2014 and the Singapore Games Creation Competition (SGCC) 2014[3]. Community partnership is also one of CNB’s approaches to include the larger community in the fight against drugs. CNB also collaborated with key stakeholders such as the National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA), Fei Yue Community Services, Beyond Social Services, Yayasan Mendaki, and 4PM (also known as the Malay Youth Literary Association) to deliver the anti-drug message at these community partners’ events.

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[1] DanceWorks! is an annual anti-drug dance competition co-organised by CNB and National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA).

[2] The Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign is co-organised by CNB and National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) annually to commemorate the World Drug Day on 26 June.

[3] The Singapore Games Creation Competition (SGCC) 2014 is jointly organised by CNB and Nanyang Polytechnic’s (NYP) School of Interactive and Digital Media and is held from 16 May 2014 to 17 Oct 2014.