IN FOCUS: Why is there a rise in new young drug abusers in Singapore?
IN FOCUS: Why is there a rise in new young drug abusers in Singapore?
A young drug abuser thought it would be "just one time" but it spiralled into addiction, then months in detention. What is behind the 20 per cent rise in new drug abusers aged under 30?
- The number of new drug abusers aged under 30 rose to 480 in 2023, a 20 per cent increase from 2022
- Parents should create a "safe, non-judgmental and unconditionally loving space" for their child to open up about drug abuse, says a therapist
SINGAPORE: It all started with one puff taken out of curiosity and the allure of easy money.
“What can happen?” Isaac Goh thought to himself. Even if the unknown substance given to him by a stranger was an illegal drug, it would “just be one time”.
Isaac, then 18 and having just started an online business selling essential oils and aromatherapy diffusers, met the stranger after delivering an order to a hotel room. Upon receiving the products, the stranger – a middle-aged man – made him an offer.
“He said he can take the whole carton of stocks that I have, but I will have to take one puff of whatever he gives me,” Isaac recalled.
“Just one puff and I can earn money and clear stocks so I made the decision very quickly.”
That was Isaac’s first encounter with Ice, also known as crystal methamphetamine.
It was not his last – he kept in touch with the man who later supplied him with various drugs for free, such as Ice and ecstasy.
Isaac was eventually arrested for drug abuse and spent six months in a drug rehabilitation centre. He relapsed, and a longer stay in rehabilitation was marked with tears and difficult confrontations with his demons, before he was finally drug-free.
The latest statistics from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) showed that the number of new drug abusers under 30 years old has risen by 20 per cent in a year.
Last year, 480 new drug abusers arrested were under 30, an increase from the 400 arrested in 2022. It is also the first time since 2019 that this figure has risen.
Among those arrested last year were five 14-year-olds, the youngest abusers to be nabbed.
While Singapore’s drug situation remains under control, it is “very concerned that drug abuse seems to be starting at a much younger age”, said CNB director Sam Tee.
“Many consumed drugs at home or their friend’s home,” he added.
Earlier this month, three teenage girls were arrested for abusing Ice. Two of them were 13 years old.
CURIOSITY AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Studies show that drug use can negatively affect brain structure and functions, with “much worse outcomes” for developing teens, said Dr Mythily Subramaniam, assistant chairman of the medical board (research) at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
“The earlier a person starts, the more likely it is going to be a more severe form of abuse … and the risk of relapse is greater,” she told CNA.
There are also repercussions in other aspects of life, such as when young drug abusers lag behind or drop out of school. They may also withdraw from social relationships, Dr Mythily added.
Common reasons why young people start experimenting with drugs include curiosity and peer influence.
An IMH survey released last year showed that about a fifth of those who had taken drugs did so because they were curious about the illicit substances. This was followed by the belief that the drugs would help with their problems, and being influenced by friends.
There are also increasingly “permissive” attitudes towards drug use, with young people being exposed to liberal views and misinformation online, experts said. A liberalisation of policies surrounding narcotics in some countries is not helping either.
That said, illegal substance abuse and addiction are typical symptoms of greater problems.
These may include mental health issues, trauma, immense stress and the inability to cope, as well as other complicating factors such as the presence of drugs in one’s surroundings.
Some people feel pushed into a corner and start taking drugs as a result, said Mr Varian Monteiro, counselling therapist at Promises Healthcare.
Illegal drug use can spiral – from the first puff to addiction, and potentially death.
PROBLEMS AT HOME
For Isaac, his tussle with drug abuse was mostly a reflection of the problems at home – he had a strained relationship with his father since he was young.
“If he comes home, I’ll go to my room and hide,” he said, citing his father’s unpredictable temper and habit of controlling his every move.
His parents also quarrelled frequently, with remarks such as “If it’s not for you, we would have divorced long ago”. It left him feeling like he was the source of their unhappiness.
At the same time, Isaac was struggling with a break-up, as well as a loss of direction in life following the end of National Service and a sudden end to normalcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He recalled spending a “very lonely” birthday in June 2020. Alone in a hotel room, the countdown to his 22nd birthday only threw up “a lot of existential questions”.
He took drugs as a form of escape. With his own troubles at home, Isaac started seeing the stranger “as a father figure”, spending more time with him abusing drugs.
This free flow of drugs also led him to take ecstasy. Isaac grew increasingly tired and found it hard to function at work as a COVID-19 contact tracer. He lost weight and at his lightest, he weighed just 50kg.
In January 2021, he was sent to a drug rehabilitation centre.
Six months flew by and Isaac was eager to reset his life. He made plans with friends to start a food and beverage (F&B) business but just as things were falling into place, a meeting with an F&B business owner at the end of August sent him back to square one.
“The minute I reached his house and the door opened, all the drugs were there,” Isaac said.
Isaac recalled the night of Sep 1 when he was arrested for a second time. It had felt like “a perfect night” after dinner and a game of Mobile Legends with his mother, until he heard knocking on the front door.
When he answered the door, eight CNB officers rushed in. He was taken into his bedroom and asked repeatedly if he had anything to declare.
He said no, thinking that if he was confident enough, he would not be taken away. But the officers came prepared.
He told his mother that he had to leave with the CNB officers.
“Mum told me ‘Okay, I will wait for you to come back.’ Then the officers asked me, ‘I give you one last chance. Your urine clean or not clean? Don’t make your mum wait for nothing.’”
That was when he decided to come clean and admitted that he had taken drugs again.
“Mum kept asking ‘why’ … a thousand emotions charged into that one word but I didn’t know what to say,” Isaac recounted. His mother watched as the CNB officers put him in handcuffs and led him away in a police van.
Isaac was sent to the drug rehabilitation centre again. This time, he was there for nearly 10 months.
RELAPSE IS NOT A FAILURE: COUNSELLOR
Experts said relapse is a “real threat” for drug abusers of any age. The solution involves treating not just the addiction, but also addressing other issues and risk factors present in the lives of the drug abusers.
“Many times, they are doing well in the hospital or recovery centre but when they go back to their home environment where they face the same challenges or a lack of social support, old habits return,” said Mr S B Viknesan, senior counsellor at IMH’s National Addictions Management Service.
For young abusers, not knowing who to confide in about their difficulties and shame may fuel addiction.
It is “nearly impossible to treat such young children without also involving the parents”, said Mr Viknesan.
Noting that the “parental role in creating protective factors for their children cannot be underplayed”, he said the challenge is to work with both the child and the parents or guardians to come up with goals that are not too punitive or permissive.
But slow progress or relapses should not be seen as failures, he added. Instead, they present learning opportunities.
“A relapse is part and parcel of recovery. Sometimes people relapse due to unforeseen circumstances in their life … and (these can be opportunities for them to) learn, strengthen themselves and move forward,” he said.
For Isaac, his second stint in a drug rehabilitation centre was a rollercoaster ride.
“I guess the first time I went into the drug rehabilitation centre, I treated it like a holiday so I never really reflected. The second time was tough.”
His first month was spent in an isolated cell due to the tightening of COVID-19 measures.
“I walked into the cell and the moment the metal door closed with a loud thud, I felt so small. It’s like you just want to shrink and cry, and you don’t know whether it’s worth living anymore.”
Besides his loneliness, Isaac also had to cope with the immense guilt. Letters from his friends were “unforgiving” and felt like “missiles directed at (his) heart”.
“It was not pleasant,” he said. “I felt guilty, like everyone gave me chances but I let them down so quickly.”
These emotions built up and erupted into confrontations when his parents visited him. That was when he began sharing his years of grievances with his father.
Each visit was filled with “shouting and crying”, leaving Isaac and his father broken.
A turning point came when a cellmate provided him with a different perspective that his parents were simply “discharging their duties as a father and a mother”, especially when they felt that their son seemed directionless and was not ready to fend for himself.
“That really shifted the entire perspective, compared to what people always say, ‘That is his way of loving you’ but I couldn’t see how that is called love.”
With that perspective, Isaac started reflecting on what he wanted in life and how he would communicate that to his parents. When he was able to, the visits became less emotional.
He also began to understand that his father’s interactions with him stemmed from his father's upbringing and an unhappy relationship with his own father.
The mending of Isaac’s relationship with his father was a big factor in helping him rebuild his life.
“I would say drugs (abuse) is a behaviour that is caused by many other factors and you will never know why one uses drugs unless you look at every other thing in that person’s life,” said Isaac.
“This is why drug rehabilitation has to be introspective … Only you know why you are using drugs.”
PARENTS’ IMPORTANT ROLE
The government announced last May that it was setting up an inter-ministry committee to look into how it can work with parents, schools, the community and other stakeholders to prevent the abuse of drugs among youth.
Preventive drug education remains the first line of defence in Singapore’s overall drug control strategy. These include after-school engagement programmes at primary and secondary schools, as well as anti-drug video competitions targeted at the youth.
CNB director Mr Tee said the bureau cannot stem the tide alone and needs the support of the public, especially parents.
“Our youths are constantly exposed to liberal drug ideas and misinformation about the harms of drugs,” he added.
Mr Viknesan, who is also a council member of the National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA), stressed the need to help young people understand that “drug use is harmful, despite mixed messages on social media”.
Beyond that, there should also be an emphasis on how to deal with negative peer pressure, handling life’s stressors and destigmatising the act of seeking help.
Youths who are at risk, such as those with behavioural and academic problems, should receive additional resources including those related to mental health, said Mr Viknesan.
Experts also pointed to the important role played by parents.
Studies have suggested that the likelihood of young children consuming drugs is 50 per cent less among those whose parents have early conversations about the harmful effects of drugs, said Dr Mythily.
“I know these are tough conversations … but do you really think that a 14-year-old today doesn't know about drugs? We have to start having these conversations.”
NCADA will be “reaching out to partners in the family sector, to raise awareness of how parents may effectively get involved (and) have meaningful conversations with their children”.
“If parents vacate this space, and leave the topic of drug abuse to schools, it would be too late,” Mr Viknesan said.
The key is to have open and honest communication. For example, parents can adopt an information-based approach where they lay out the risks associated with drugs and allow their children to make informed decisions, said Mr Monteiro from Promises Healthcare.
“Parents sometimes use an emotion-focused approach, like ‘don't do it, bad things will happen’ but they never really explain or go in-depth enough for the child to understand,” he said.
“Having a balanced approach, hearing what the child wants to say, and then coming from an information-based approach will be helpful.”
“It's not assuming that the parent knows better, but just asking what have the peers been telling the child, what has the child learned from social media … so that it becomes a discussion, as opposed to ‘I’m telling you to do this’,” Mr Monteiro added.
If a parent suspects their child is already using drugs, he or she should try to initiate conversation in a non-confrontational approach. The key is to provide a “safe, non-judgmental and unconditionally loving space” for the child to open up.
“If the parent starts with chiding them, it shuts down the whole thing because there are reasons apart from experimentation or curiosity,” he said.
Isaac, who is now working full-time as a project executive at social enterprise Architects of Life (AOL), was keen to share his story and help young people like himself.
Apart from speaking to the media, he is also involved in an initiative by AOL called Triad Trails where ex-offenders lead walking tours around Chinatown to share how secret societies came to be in the area and their own life experiences.
Sharing his story is a test of courage and resolve. The last time he did, he found himself overwhelmed by care and attention from former teachers and schoolmates – as well as other nefarious messages offering him drugs.
“A lot of people contacted me to say, ‘You got take (drugs) one ah? I got. Come to my place.’”
In such instances, Isaac is thankful for the supportive environment he now has around him – at home, in his workplace and a group of friends whom he can turn to.
“In counselling, they always say as long as you keep your mind off something for 10 minutes – you can call someone or go get an ice cream – (it) will go away,” Isaac said.
He has been told that overcoming addiction “is a never-ending journey”.
“You can never say you are a past addict (because) that neural pathway has already been created in your mind,” said Isaac.
“It’s just when (you’re) at the crossroads, which road will you take? Is it the road easily travelled, which is addiction? Or the road to a better life, which will take some work and energy, but (is more) worthwhile.”