Hardened drug addicts to get longer, more intensive rehab
Changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act were passed in Parliament on Tuesday. ADELINE TAN and DAVID SUN speak to two offenders getting treatment now
He was at his void deck taking cannabis when a police officer arrested him.
Recalling the incident, which happened in January last year, Farhan (not his real name) said he kept silent because he knew what he had done.
He said: "I just asked him if he could bring me home. I wanted to see my family... before they took me away."
Farhan, 30, started with cough syrup and sleeping pills, before trying heavier substances.
Farhan had served another stint at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) when he was arrested in 2011, but relapsed 15 months after his release.
At the DRC, inmates like Farhan go through rehabilitation programmes like psychology-based correctional programmes and skills training.
He said: "My family, not the friends I did drugs with, visit me. They come whenever they can, even if they are unwell.
"My mother has a heart problem. But I can tell she's trying to pretend she's well enough to come and see me. I want to change for them."
Following the changes in the Misuse of Drugs Act passed in Parliament last Tuesday, those who have committed only drug offences will be eligible for the DRC.
Previously, those who had offended more than two times were jailed under long-term (LT) imprisonment, which means a minimum term of at least five years with three strokes of the cane.
This will see one in two liable for LT imprisonment eligible to be sent to the DRC instead.
As of 2018, the LT inmate population was 4,145, while the DRC population was 1,461.
In 2017, about 45 per cent of DRC inmates were repeat offenders, with this number expected to rise in the short term with the implementation of the changes.
But hardened addicts will see longer, more intensive rehabilitation programmes, said Ms Lau Kuan Mei, assistant director of the correctional rehabilitation services.
She said: "We want to increase the chances for them to practise the skills taught... but we will review these programmes based on the needs of the drug offenders here."
Superintendent Soh Yen Li of Institution B5, a DRC within the Changi Prison Complex, said: "One of the critical factors that we should have is also to build on their motivation to change, and at the end of the day they must adopt that pro-active approach to want to change."
Another DRC inmate who spoke to the media was Alan (not his real name). Previously a cook, Alan, 27, had his first stay in DRC in 2013 after he was caught consuming methamphetamine.
"It was my father who reported me, and I really hated him for that," he said."When he finally came to see me after a few months, I cried and thanked him for reporting me."
He stayed clean for five years after his release, working hard and opening his own chicken rice stall in Yishun.
But he also suffered a relapse when he hung out with old friends. It started with cough syrup, then he was back on Ice.
Alan is expected to complete his second stint in the DRC in about a month. He said: "The sessions and classes they give in DRC are very useful. But ultimately, I have to be the one to decide to be a better person."
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