Singapore expands drug rehabilitation centre contraband list to include vape devices and Part 3A products from 1 May 2026

The Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the Misuse of Drugs (Approved Institutions) (Discipline) Regulations through Statute 262 of 2026, with effect from 1 May 2026. The amendment introduces three new definitions in Regulation 2 — "Part 3A product", "specified psychoactive substance" and "vaporiser" — each adopted by reference to the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993. Regulation 9, which lists unauthorised articles within an approved institution and attaches a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both for any person who conveys, supplies or possesses such articles, has been amended to insert "any Part 3A product" as paragraph (ca). The Schedule of disciplinary offences has been updated in parallel — paragraphs (42) and (43) under Part I (minor offences) and paragraph (11) under Part II (major offences) — extending the disciplinary regime to abetment and to cross-references in the related Misuse of Drugs (Approved Institutions, Medical Observation and Treatment and Rehabilitation) Regulations.

The amendment closes a gap that emerged once vaporisers ceased to be a tobacco-only delivery method. From 1 September 2025, Singapore's coordinated whole-of-government response to vaping treated etomidate-laced vaporisers — colloquially "kpods" — under three different laws simultaneously, including the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973. By the time the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill was tabled for Second Reading on 6 March 2026, more than 5,100 persons had been caught for vaporiser-related offences in the preceding six months, of whom 593 were etomidate vaporiser users. From 1 January to 31 March 2026 alone, authorities apprehended 2,589 persons for possession or use of vaporisers — 85% regular vaporiser offenders and 377 etomidate vaporiser offenders — and seized more than 36,000 vaporisers and related components. Without parallel reform of the discipline regulations, an inmate of an approved institution could face prosecution under the renamed Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act for vaporiser possession outside the centre but no institutional consequence inside it. Statute 262 of 2026 closes that gap.

The institutional pathway that Statute 262 of 2026 now extends inside approved institutions is documented across three Singapore Government communications: a parliamentary reply on Drug Rehabilitation Centre and Community Rehabilitation Centre capacity (14 October 2025), the Second Reading speech on the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill (6 March 2026), and ministerial opening remarks at the whole-of-government vape press conference (28 August 2025). The relevant passages from each document are reproduced below as direct snapshots from the source releases.

All inmates of approved institutions under the Misuse of Drugs Act are now subject to the expanded contraband scope. An inmate found in possession of any Part 3A product, specified psychoactive substance or vaporiser within the centre — including etomidate-laced "kpods" — commits an unauthorised-article offence under Regulation 9 and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both. The same penalty exposure extends to officers of a centre who knowingly permit such articles to be sold, brought in, or received by inmates, and to any person who conveys or supplies the articles to an inmate. Custodial and rehabilitation officers and Superintendents may invoke the updated Schedule's minor offence regime for abetment (paragraph 43) and the major offence regime for abetment of a major offence (paragraph 11). Drug Rehabilitation Centres in Singapore, operating at approximately 76% of capacity at end-2024 with an annual average of 2,000 admissions, may experience increased disciplinary case-loads as etomidate vaporiser offenders convicted for the third or subsequent time begin entering institutional rehabilitation.

Statute 262 of 2026 takes effect from 1 May 2026, the same date on which the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act 1993 is renamed the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993. From that date, every approved institution under the Misuse of Drugs Act must treat Part 3A products, specified psychoactive substances and vaporisers as unauthorised articles for all purposes of Regulation 9 and the disciplinary Schedule. No transition or grace period is provided in the gazetted instrument — the new definitions and the expanded offence catalogue come into force on 1 May 2026 alongside the renamed parent Act. Visitors, supervision officers, probation officers and members of the Board of Visitors should treat the expanded contraband list as binding on entry to a centre. This regulatory development is preserved and cited by RegLegBrief at reglegbrief.com/cite/RLB-SG-2026-00046.