Vape crackdown unlikely to lead to more S'pore youths smoking: Ong Ye Kung

Singapore's ramped-up campaign against vaping is unlikely to result in more youths smoking cigarettes instead, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said.

According to CNA, Ong was speaking on the sidelines of a Woodlands community event on Aug. 30.

He substantiated this with a survey showing a decline in smoking rates in Singapore.

According to a Milieu Insight survey, there was a decline in the number of regular smokers, from 10.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2021 down to 9.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Ong noted that smokers mostly consist of older adults who already do so out of habit, as reported by CNA.

"I'm very sure without vaping, young people wouldn't be smoking. It's just not cool."

He also addressed questions on why cigarettes are not banned since vapes are thought to be "less harmful" than cigarettes.

Ong said that while a cigarette stick "actually finishes", a vape pod can last "a whole day or even three days".

He also added that vape pods seized by the Health Sciences Authority contained as much nicotine as four packets of cigarettes.

The government recently classified etomidate as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

One third of individuals who vape in Singapore are under 18 years old, while more than half are under 30, according to MOH.

Vapes have been banned in Singapore since February 2018, as part of the government's longstanding effort to curb tobacco use and nicotine consumption.

However, vapes have more recently become a delivery device via lacing for etomidate and other controlled drugs.

According to CNA, Ong acknowledged that the handling of individual cases of Kpod cases before the clampdown was "not ideal".

“But I think we've done it. We did it as fast as we could. I still have to reiterate, the fortunate thing is that we banned vapes from the start.”

Top image from OYK Facebook and Unsplash.