NCJ Number
94525
Date Published
1983
Length
13 pages
Annotation
During the 1970's, drug abuse in Singapore increased at an alarming rate and the government instituted several legislative and enforcement programs to halt what was not only a serious domestic social problem, but also a possible national security threat.
Abstract
The Misuse of Drugs Act distinguishes between persons who consume drugs and others who exploit the consumers. Drug trafficking and manufacturing carry severe penalties including death in cases where a person is convicted of trafficking in more than 15 grams of pure heroin or more than 30 grams of morphine. Drug addicts are given a chance to redeem themselves through drug rehabilitation programs. The objective of Operation Ferret was to arrest as many drug addicts as possible, detain them for compulsory treatment and rehabilitation, and isolate them from the drug culture more quickly than new addicts could be created. In addition to reducing demand for heroin, Operation Ferret gathered data to estimate the heroin addict population and put addicts on record. Extensive treatment programs providing residential treatment, supervision during outpatient treatment, and aftercare programs helped bring the drug problem under reasonable control. Although heroin abuse continues, it has been reduced by about 50 percent with an addict population of about 6,200 at the end of 1982 -- compared to about 13,000 at the peak of Operation Ferret in 1977. The failure rate, based on progress of each cohort of addicts which had gone through the treatment and rehabilitation, supervision, and aftercare for 4 to 5 years, has been reduced from 70 percent in 1977 to 36 percent at the end of 1982.