Singapore has announced a new, tougher stance on vape products in the island nation, including potential jail time for violators, Bloomberg reported.
"So far we've treated vaping like tobacco — at most we impose a fine, but that's no longer enough," Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said during a national address. "We will treat this as a drug issue and impose much stiffer penalties."
The crackdown on vapes comes amid increased public awareness about the health risks and environmental impacts of vaping products.
While experts say that further research is needed to fully understand the effects of vaping, evidence has shown that vaping presents a number of serious health risks, especially to young people, pregnant people, and fetuses.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, vape products contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. Nicotine has a negative impact on brain development that continues until age 25.
Nicotine also is toxic to fetuses and is associated with significant health risks in pregnant people.
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Despite the known risks of nicotine, the largest health concerns surrounding vaping might involve what is unknown.
In addition to nicotine, vape fluid has been found to contain cancer-causing chemicals, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals such as tin, nickel, and lead, all of which can be extremely harmful to human health, per the CDC.
Singapore will particularly target vapes found to be laced with, or contaminated by, dangerous additives.
In particular, officials say that one-third of the vapes seized in Singapore contain etomidate, which is used medically as a sedative but which can also cause hallucinations and organ failure, Bloomberg reported.
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Yes 👍 Singapore planned to reclassify etomidate as an illegal drug with penalties on par with cocaine, per Bloomberg.
In addition to the health risks, vape products also cause environmental harm. From manufacture to disposal, single-use vapes in particular generate large amounts of waste and pollution; many vape products contain lithium-ion batteries.
A 2023 review of the scientific literature found that the manufacture and disposal of vape products have a number of negative environmental impacts, including water contamination, air pollution, and the introduction of harmful chemicals and other substances into ecosystems.
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