While it has been illegal to import and sell e-cigarettes for a long time, the change to make possession of any e-cigarette item illegal was just recently passed in December 2015.

There are also relatively few reports of smokers, not importers, being taken to task for their habit.

Enter Redditor IllegalVaper, who posted an extremely detailed account of a police raid on his house due to his vaping(a term for smoking e-cigarettes).

Long time vaper

He first claimed how he was just a vaper, and not a dealer.

I've been a vaper for just over 3 years and I've been totally off cigarettes for 2 years.

It was illegal to import and sell any vaping related products in Singapore until the government decided to change the law back in December 2015 when it became illegal to possess any form of vaping products.

I obviously didn't stop vaping for health reasons and it had already became a huge hobby of mine. I have always been a low profile vaper. I only vaped at home and in my office. Never in public. I've never sold a single mod or a bottle of juice.

The raid

He then talked about the police raid itself.

So sometime this year, a package of mine containing juices got seized at the customs. I didn't think much of it until I got a knock on my door a few months later.

They flipped my home. They went through my phone. Checked every messages looking for other vapers. They took every mod, juice, tank and even my wires. They took photos of my home. Every cupboard, every shelf. I couldn't make sense of everything.

After they were satisfied, I sat down with them and was made to go through every single item. They flash every item in front of me, wanting to know when I bought it, how I bought it, what mode of payment did I use, where it originated from and how much did they cost.

If I bought it online, they wanna know the website, if I bought it as a guest or I have an account. If I do they wanted to know the account name.

Fear for the future

Before outlining his worries about his future.

I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next. When I asked if I'm going to be charged, I was told to wait. So for the past few months I've lived in fear. The fear of facing this.

Any person who contravenes the ban shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, a fine not exceeding $20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.

Yes, I can possibly go to jail because I vape. Alone. At home.

Fell off the wagon

The confiscation of his e-cigarettes has resulted in him falling back to his old smoking habits.

I was determined to stay of (sic) cigarettes. The first day was hell, so I tried nicotine patches. It didn't work. I moved on to nicotine gum. Nope. I tried cold turkey and for the life of me, I couldn't take the withdrawal. 3 weeks later, I smoked my first cigarette in 3 years.

The law

Despite the aforementioned account, as the Redditor himself admitted, the law is clear on the illegality of e-cigarettes.

And any person who contravenes the ban is liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both.

Top image from Flickr

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