Since losing his only daughter in a fall from their high-rise flat in Singapore, Delfard Tay has turned grief into purpose, sounding the alarm on drug-laced vapes that put teenagers’ lives at risk.
Authorities in the South-East Asian island state have clamped down on e-cigarettes, introducing strict measures last month to combat a worrying rise in the use of so-called KPods -- vapes spiked with synthetic drugs such as ketamine.
Tay said Shermaine, 19, was struggling with substance abuse before her death last year.
“Initially she was vaping” nicotine substances, he said, but one day “she showed me this new product ... you smoke and you get high”.
Shermaine was referring to etomidate, a short-acting anaesthetic that can trigger hallucinations, seizures and erratic behaviour.
Much like other vapes, KPods often draw young people, and despite being illegal, are readily available on online platforms like Telegram.
“E-vapourisers have changed the landscape of substance abuse. There are more young people involved out of curiosity, or succumbing to peer pressure,” Singa-pore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told lawmakers last month.
Vaping, which appeared two decades ago as an alternative to smoking, was already banned in Singapore since 2018, but regulations in place as of Sept 1 reclassified it as a drug-related offence with tougher punishments.
Now, anyone caught with e-cigarettes risks a fine of up to S$2,000 (RM6,500), and repeat offenders face compulsory rehabilitation or caning if they are Singaporean, or deportation for foreigners.
Selling or importing drug-laced vapes carries jail terms of up to 10 or 20 years, respectively.
There is no official data on vape-related injuries or deaths, but Tay said that his daughter’s death has pushed him to speak up about the dangers of KPods.
Shermaine’s body was found at the foot of their apartment building in September last year.
Video footage showed her staggering out of the flat before the fall – behaviour her father said is consistent with etomidate use.
“Even if one person is saved from KPod use, my daughter’s memory would have served its purpose,” said the single father, who now regularly shares videos online and was recently tapped to tell his story in a government campaign to discourage vaping.
Singapore has mobilised 10,000 officers to enforce its anti-vaping crackdown, raiding night spots and patrolling public places like parks, metro stations and schools.
Within the first three weeks since the new regulations were introduced, 656 people were caught for vape-related offences including 44 who possessed etomidate vapes, according to official data.
Singapore has among the toughest anti-drug laws in the world, which include the death penalty for certain offences.
The government temporarily classified etomidate, which is used in hospitals to sedate patients, as a Class C harmful drug, while it crafts more effective legislation against the new threat.
The Health Sciences Authority, which is leading the anti-vaping crackdown, said a vape was found in his possession.
Drug-spiked vapes in Singapore usually contain etomidate, but authorities warn they could be laced with more dangerous drugs in the future. — AFP
