Vapes, which are already banned in Singapore, are seeing heightened levels of scrutiny by health officials. (Representational image via Canva)Singapore’s government plans to sharply escalate penalties for vaping, including potential jail terms for serious offenders, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Sunday, describing the practice as an emerging public health threat that the city-state will now treat more like drug abuse than tobacco use.During a National Day Rally speech on August 17, PM Wong said that every generation worries about negative influences which impacts their young people. The prime minister added that new risks will emerge and vaping is a serious issue.“So far we’ve treated vaping like tobacco. At most we impose a fine, but that’s no longer enough. We will treat this as a drug issue and impose much stiffer penalties,” said Wong during the National Day Rally address.The stricter penalties could mean jail sentences and severe punishments for those who are involved in selling vapes mixed with harmful substances, Wong said, while adding that Singapore is ready to provide rehabilitation to addicts.Vapes, which are already banned in Singapore, are seeing heightened levels of scrutiny by health officials who say that about a third of those seized in the country are laced with the anesthetic substance, etomidate. Doctors generally use etomidate to induce sedation, however, misusing it can cause hallucinations and organ damage, Bloomberg reported.Currently, Singapore is working to notify etomidate as an illegal drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Under the proposed classification, the users of etomidate-laced vapes would be liable to face equally severe punishments as consumers of hard drugs like cocaine in Singapore.“We have banned it in Singapore, but people are still smuggling vapes in and finding ways to get around our laws,” PM Wong said on Sunday.Story continues below this adVietnam and Maldives recently joined the list of countries where vaping is banned and have stricter punishments on its sale, consumption etc. Some of the other countries that have banned vaping include:IndiaNew ZealandBrazilNorth KoreaArgentinaCambodiaMalaysiaLaosOman(with inputs from Bloomberg)Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:nicotineSingapore