Ready Availability of Mobile Devices and Impact on Youth Education on Harms of Drugs

Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether current efforts to educate youths on the harm of drugs have considered (i) the opportunities and challenges arising from the increased availability of mobile devices (ii) the evolving media environment overseas and (iii) the risks of very young Singaporeans inadvertently coming across drug content; and (b) what is being done to keep up the educational efforts with the ongoing and emerging trends of content promoting drugs.

Sir, the ubiquity of mobile devices and use of social media has indeed exposed youths more to liberal drug views and lifestyles. They also make it easier for people to procure drugs.

The Central Narcotics Bureau, or CNB, has therefore also been actively using social media platforms to reach out to youths, to educate them on the harms of drugs through explainer videos, news stories, infographics and other means.

CNB also works with youth advocates, such as students from Institutes of Higher Learning, to ensure that its anti-drug messages and campaigns are relatable to youths. For example, CNB collaborated with students from Singapore Polytechnic's School of Business last year to roll out two anti-drug social media campaigns.

CNB works with MOE and schools to incorporate anti-drug messages into the school curriculum. It engages students through talks, sharing sessions, exhibitions and skits.

There are also efforts to get parents on board. In 2022, CNB collaborated with 13 community libraries to bring attention to the important role that parents play in helping their children to understand the dangers of drugs. CNB produced a range of anti-drug materials suitable for families with young children for display at these libraries. Some of the libraries organised family-friendly activities, such as storytelling and craft sessions, to raise awareness of the harms of drugs. CNB also commissioned editorials in The Straits Times' "Smart Parenting" column to highlight the important role of parental guidance in drug issues.

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I have met Clementi parents who are worried about foreign drug cartels and foreign influence and sponsorship that may be leading to a proliferation of drug lifestyle, media and related contents that may find its way into the handphones and mobile devices that their children are using. So, can I ask the Minister of State two supplementary questions?

Firstly, how is CNB looking out to prevent, detect and take down content that facilitates access to or acquisition of controlled drugs? Secondly, can the Minister of State also tell us what are the most commonly abused drugs among youths under the age of 16 in Singapore at the moment?

Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. We are aware of online platforms being an opportunity for the drug cartels or even people in the different lines of drug supply and trafficking who may share on online platforms. So, as such, we engage social network services, e-commerce businesses, Internet service providers and technology companies to seek their cooperation. We work with them to detect and prevent the advertisements of controlled drugs. So, we do that. And this involves taking down the advertisements, banning the account from being used to peddle drugs and publishing anti-drug advisories on their platforms.

That is something, from the operational perspective, that we do.

If you look at the Misuse of Drugs Act in 2019, where we introduced new offences that aim to address the acts of contamination, where any person who disseminates or publishes information on the cultivation, manufacturing, consumption, trafficking, importing and exporting of controlled drugs, may face an imprisonment term of up to five years or fine up to $10,000 or both with harsher punishments for repeat offenders. So, this is where we target persons who share harmful information regarding drugs, particularly online to influence others towards the commission of drug activities.

We will continue to navigate this because we also look at issues, not only in the upstream, but we are also looking at the operational and intelligence angle, and we continue to improve and be ahead of what the cartels or syndicates are doing.

The Member asked a question about the most commonly abused drugs among youths. Essentially, it is methamphetamine, or in short, meth, cannabis and new psychoactive substances. This is the trend that we have been seeing in the last five years and we will continue with our preventive drug education at the various platforms.

At the end of the day, we also want the youths to feel empowered. We have been working with them to co-create not only to produce the information materials but co-create the feeling of being empowered to stay drug-free. They also engage their counterparts from overseas. Recently, we had youths from Hong Kong visiting us. So, we also involve our youths in this process.

As a whole, it is not only about Singapore. We want to make sure that our youths also understand why drugs are so harmful, not only within the Singapore context but also beyond and how they can play a part in this effort. We cannot do this alone. We need to work with youths and the community.

Essentially, while we continue to engage via online means, we also do not forget the face-to-face. That is where we engage parents – we share with them what they should do, some of the signs and symptoms of when their child is taking drugs and so forth. It is hard work but meaningful and worthwhile, to keep Singapore safe and secure.