私醫聯招 英文歷屆試題｜第 587 題

The widespread sale and use of illegal drugs poses a major challenge to governments throughout the world. A UN report estimated that the total value of the international illegal drug trade was annually $400 billion, larger than the value of international trade in iron, steel and motor vehicles. In the war on drugs, several countries, including Singapore, have adopted a zero tolerance law regarding drug trafficking and possession. Especially, Singapore is in a rather unique geographical position as an air, land, and sea hub for Southeast Asia. This fact makes it particularly attractive as a transit point for drug traffickers.

In April 2023, a Singaporean man convicted of trying to traffic around 2.2 pounds of cannabis was executed. A sentence lambasted by human rights groups and campaigners for its severity at a time when many other nations have adopted a more lenient approach towards drugs and capital punishment. While cannabis has been legalized in a growing number of nations worldwide, Singapore maintains some of the world’s harshest drug laws, and its government remains adamant that capital punishment works to deter drug traffickers and must remain in place to maintain public safety.

However, human rights groups point to the fact that many of those executed in Singapore are among the most impoverished and vulnerable of the population, including a large number of foreign nationals and migrant workers. In the case of drug trafficking convictions, it has been argued that those found guilty are usually the drug users. What this means is that minor players are executed while the major players, those who lead the drug trafficking operations, are able to escape punishment, and continue to command their illegal operations. Furthermore, human rights groups argue that despite the harsh laws, drug abuse has not abated, particularly among the poorest and least educated young people in Singapore.

Certainly, part of Singapore's approach to deal with the use of illegal drugs can be related to the government's intense concern over national security since independence from Britain. The political system that has developed in Singapore depends on the continued use of powers established to deal with communist threats in the Southeast Asian peninsula in the 1950s. A key instrument in wielding this power is the Internal Security Act (ISA) which was legislated in 1960 and modeled on the British government’s Preservation of Public Security Ordinance in 1955. Under the law, anyone caught trafficking, importing or exporting certain quantities of illegal drugs like methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine or cannabis products receives the mandatory death sentence. Furthermore, citizens can be arrested without warrant and detained without trial if they are “suspected of criminal activity” including the sale or use of illegal drugs in the country. Once the physical act of trafficking, shown by the fact of possession of the drugs, as well as the intent to deliver, carry or sell the drug are proved, the conviction would be confirmed. Singapore’s government claims these harsh laws as a few effective ways to keep drugs out in the country.