Pubdate: Sat, 31 Jan 2004
Source: Straits Times (Singapore)
Copyright: 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
Contact:  http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/429
Author: Laurel Teo

HELP SCHEMES PUT EX-ADDICTS BACK ON THEIR FEET

TOUGH laws are not the only reason why Singapore is winning the battle 
against drug abuse.

Rehabilitation and preventive programmes are just as important, says the 
Home Affairs Ministry (MHA), which yesterday released figures showing a 
decline in the drug problem over the past decade.

Between 1993 and 1998, the number of drug abusers arrested fell steadily 
from 5,857 to 4,502.

By last year,it had fallen dramatically to 1,785.

The statistics are part of the ministry's rebuttal to a blistering report 
by Amnesty International on Jan 14, that attacked Singapore's execution record.

Amnesty argued that the authorities should resolve the social conditions 
that give rise to drug abuse and addiction, 'rather than resorting to 
executions as a solution'.

'Despite the use of the death penalty and high execution rates, drug 
addiction continues to be a problem' in Singapore, it said.

Neither is true, said the ministry.

Firstly, a drug addict is not sentenced to death, but to a drug 
rehabilitation centre (DRC), for treatment and counselling to help kick the 
habit. Recovering addicts are sent to a halfway house, where they are 
gradually re-integrated into the community.

Various agencies also help ex-addicts get jobs and instil a strong work 
ethic in them.

In the last few years, Singapore has also taken preemptive action, by 
designing and targeting preventive drug programmes at students and youths 
who are out of school.

This holistic approach has worked, said the ministry, pointing to the 
declining arrest rate. As further proof, it added, fewer addicts are going 
back to the drug habit.

Of the DRC inmates released in 1994, almost eight in 10 were detained again 
within two years. By 2000, the proportion had fallen to six in 10.

But the MHA also made no apologies for the tough laws.

Because Singapore is so small and so close to the Golden Triangle, the 
poppy-growing region that is part of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, it is 
'particularly vulnerable to the drug menace', it said.

So, the death penalty plays 'a key role in deterring organised drug 
syndicates from establishing themselves in Singapore and keeps the drug 
situation under control'.

Of the 138 executions in the last five years, 110 were for drug-related 
offences.

Amnesty alleges that a number were sent to death row for possessing 
'relatively small quantities of drugs'.

The ministry countered that the death sentence is meted out only to those 
who possess more than 15g of heroin in its pure form.

This is equivalent to a slab of about 750g of street heroin, which can be 
made up into more than 3,700 heroin straws, with a street value of more 
than US$100,000 (S$170,390).

'Amnesty International may consider this as 'fairly small amounts of 
drugs', but Singapore certainly does not,' said the ministry.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom