Is Singapore the next Asian country to legalize marijuana?

Will Singapore next legalize marijuana in Asia? Singaporeans think it should be legal, a poll reports

Singapore, the lion city of Asia, is known worldwide for its conservative attitude and consistently strict laws.

In the past, Singapore was notorious for strict drug laws and had a zero-tolerance policy for drugs of any kind – including marijuana. Because of this, the country has been drug-free for many years. Currently, the Central Narcotics Bureau states that anyone caught possessing or convicted of using cannabis faces up to 10 years in prison or a $20,000 fine. It could also be both.

Meanwhile, those caught illegally importing, exporting, or dealing in cannabis can face the death penalty. Even Singaporeans are not allowed to use the drug when leaving the country because the law dictates that they face the same charges as if the crime had been committed in Singapore.

However, attitudes towards cannabis use in Asia have changed in recent years. Thailand, for example, recently legalized the use of marijuana, a move that has been widely lauded not only in the region but around the world.

A recent survey of over 1,000 Singaporeans conducted by the Sunday Times was conducted to gauge attitudes towards medical marijuana in the Lion City, the Straits Times reports. Fifty-three percent answered yes when asked if they thought Singapore should, while 35 percent said no to any kind of legalization. Meanwhile, when asked if they thought cannabis should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, 12% said yes.

Additionally, the Straits Times reports that two people with treatment-resistant epilepsy were granted permission to legally use cannabis-based medicines by the Singaporean government back in 2021. This was Epidiolex, which contains non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) synthetically manufactured by Big Pharma and approved for clinical trials or medical use in Europe, Japan, and Korea. But even when this happened, the Interior Ministry stressed that Singapore would continue to uphold its stance on illicit drugs like cannabis for people’s health.

Singapore has also dabbled in its own efforts to create synthetic cannabinoids. “Significant progress has been made,” Associate Professor Yew Wen Shan of the National University of Singapore told The Straits Times. He and his team have been working to biosynthesize 5 minor cannabinoids for the last several years and they are now able to produce them in the lab.

“This is all part of efforts to improve public health as the biosynthetically produced cannabinoids could be used as sustainable therapeutics,” he adds.

Singapore’s Minister of Home Affairs and Justice does not believe in decriminalizing cannabis

In early September 2022, Head of Home and Justice Minister K. Shanmugam said Singapore was in no rush to decriminalize marijuana. “Our policies are based on science and research showing that cannabis is clearly harmful and addictive,” Shanmugam said in a virtual interview with The Star. He added that Singapore is taking a cautious approach to the matter and will not be influenced by other countries such as Thailand and Malaysia when it comes to decriminalizing marijuana.

“If a pharmaceutical company were pushing the use of cannabis because it has medicinal benefits, I would be very skeptical,” he says. Shanmugam adds that Singaporean authorities left it in the hands of doctors and medical experts. “If a reputable medical association says they need cannabis for medicinal purposes, then we will take that very seriously,” he said.

Shanmugam also said they would not be following in Thailand’s footsteps any time soon. “We assess Singaporeans and conduct surveys, and Singaporeans really don’t want to get into that situation,” he says.

During an interview last month with Astro Awani, a Malaysian broadcaster discussing the legalization of marijuana in the region, Shanmugam said, “There’s a good reason we have the mandatory death penalty.”

“These are government matters and for political reasons we have long held that once a certain threshold is crossed to have a deterrent effect, people need to know that the mandatory death penalty will be imposed,” he said.

Legalizing marijuana in Singapore might still be a pipe dream, Malaysia is making progress

Given the ministers’ feedback, it seems there is still a long way to go if Singapore ever decides to decriminalize medical marijuana.

Despite this, other Asian neighbors see the potential benefits of doing so in their own countries. Just hours ago, Malaysia’s Minister of Health, Khayry Jamaluddin, announced that they have begun research to measure attitudes towards medical marijuana in the country by registering with the National Research Medical Register (NMRR), a medical research database.

According to Kharyy, this is her response to Shah Alam’s MP Khalid Samad, who asked him to describe how his fact-finding trip to Thailand to study medicinal cannabis went, reports the Malay Mail. “This research will determine attitudes and confidence towards medical cannabis use among doctors in Malaysia,” he said. “The outcome of this research will serve as a benchmark for perceptions of medical cannabis use in Malaysia,” said Khairy.

In addition, Khairy said the Clinical Research Institute is working to compile and analyze medical practices that detail how cannabis is used in Thailand and other countries. “In addition, there are also several research projects for clinical trials being prepared by a group of medical experts at the ministry regarding the use of cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain and cancer pain patients,” he says.

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