There are 33 offenses in Singapore that warrant capital punishment, including murder, drug trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping and use of firearms. After a pause of more than two years, the country resumed execution by hanging in March 2022. Since then a total of 16 people have been executed — all for drug trafficking. It's unknown how many are still on death row.
When it comes to cannabis possession, 500g is enough for the death sentence under Singapore's law. The same punishment is warranted for 15g of heroin, 30grams of cocaine and 250g of methamhetamine (also kown as crystal or ice). Possession of just 15g of cannabis is also considered drug trafficking, while those found with less than 15g of cannabis are considered users, and they are sent to the Drug Rehabilitation Center (DRC) instead of prison, writes BBC.
The article tells a story of Kim (not her real name), a casual cannabis user, who used it for medical benefits, when she experienced family troubles. She found a reliable local supplier and it became a habit. She was surrounded by people who also used marijuana, and some of her friends asked her to get some for them.
"That's what I did," Kim says. "I never marked up the price in any way, because this was friendship… It's like, I'm helping you to purchase something we both use anyway."
When one of her friends was caught with cannabis, she was named as the supplier and was arrested on drug trafficking charges.
"I was wracked with horror," she says. "To have charges of trafficking leveled at me? That was just overwhelming. I felt complete and utter fear of what was going to pan out for me."
Kim's friends, classified as consumers, were sent to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) instead of prison. The DRC, managed by Singapore's Prison Service, operates like a detention facility where detainees spend months in austere conditions aimed at deterrence. The center is surrounded by barbed wire, a control room and CCTV everywhere to ensure detainees are uncomfortable. Even casual users spend at least six months there, attending psychology courses up to six hours a day.
"The aim is to motivate inmates to want to stay away from drugs, to renew their lives without them, and to address negative thinking regarding drugs," Lau Kuan Mei, deputy director for the Correctional Rehabilitation Service told BBC.
Despite job placement support and ongoing surveillance after release, about one-third of former drug users relapse.
Some justice advocates, including the Transformative Justice Collective, say the system imposes trauma on users through strict incarceration practices, causing shame rather than addressing underlying addiction issues, reflecting the ongoing impact of Singapore's "war on drugs." For the Transformative Justice Collective, a group that campaigns against the death penalty, the DRC is a form of mandatory detention where prisoners face "humiliation" and "loss of liberties."
However, addiction specialist Dr. Muni Winslow believes treatment has advanced and that the country's approach is evolving to view drug use more as a health issue.
The minimum sentence Kim could receive is five years, and the maximum is 20 years.
"Once I heard there was very little possibility of me not serving a sentence, I took some time," Kim says, "to mourn almost, for the period of my life I would lose. I think I’ve accepted prison on a deeper level. It just never gets easier as the day draws nearer."