[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: The recent United Nations decision to remove cannabis from the most strictly controlled category of narcotics is driven by the “power of money,” said Minister of Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam on Saturday (5 December).
Member states of the UN drug agency voted on Wednesday 27-25 with one abstention on Recommendation 5.1, which states that cannabis and cannabis resin should be removed from Annex IV of the 1961 Convention, a global text that governs drug controls.
“I put it down to the power of money. Companies see a huge amount of profit and a very hateful idea is being pushed that cannabis is not harmful,” Shanmugam said.
“But the evidence that it is harmful is quite substantial.”
READ: Singapore ‘disappointed’ with UN move to relax controls on cannabis: MHA
Shanmugam noted that last year, the Lancet medical journal highlighted that there was an increased risk of psychotic disorder from cannabis abuse.
The United States Surgeon General also pointed to three negative effects of cannabis, Shanmugam said, including an effect on adolescent learning and a decrease in IQ.
The Singapore Institute of Mental Health reviewed “all credited literature on the subject” in 2015 and submitted it to the UN, he added.
“The evidence was pretty clear. I told the United Nations at the UN. I said, look, if there is evidence that it is not harmful, we will change. But so far, what we have done has worked for us,” said the minister.
“It should be the doctors and medical associations who tell us that they need this for medical purposes and, if so, a framework can be developed, which will be delivered to patients who need it, with due guarantees,” he added.
“It shouldn’t be for-profit companies that decide what you buy without a prescription and say it’s for medical purposes.”
READ: UN drug agency loosens global controls on cannabis, following WHO advice
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a book release with quotes from rehabilitated ex-offenders, Shanmugam cited several negative effects of cannabis legalization, using the state of Colorado as an example.
One study estimates that for every dollar Colorado receives in drug sales taxes, another $ 4.50 is spent to deal with the negative consequences, he said.
“Increased number of people in prisons, increase in homicides, increase in crime … How can it not be worrying? The evidence is there,” he added.
Singapore needs to “hold the line” on the issue, Shanmugam said.
“Of course, it depends on persuading the population with rational arguments, with science, and also trying to persuade the international community,” he told reporters.
“I think if it was based on rationality and science, I have no doubt that we will succeed. But we are also fighting the power of money in other countries.”
SITUATION OF DRUGS IN SINGAPORE ‘UNDER CONTROL’
When asked to assess the current drug situation in Singapore, Shanmugam said: “You can never win the battle. But more or less we have it under control.”
He noted that the number of first-time drug users arrested in Singapore has been increasing.
Given that East Asia and Southeast Asia are the second largest market for methamphetamine, Shanmugam said the situation “is not pleasant.”
“As I said, we have managed to get it under control in Singapore, but it is necessary to be constantly on the alert, and there is also an international fight,” he added.
“We need to present our position, persuade countries that it is in the public interest, both their public interest and ours, to fight this together.”
