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Drug abusers: Rehab v long-term imprisonment
After 20 years of tackling hardcore drug abuse with long-term imprisonment, the Government has changed its approach with a bigger focus on rehabilitation. Insight looks at why this is happening now.
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Inmates engaging in interactive indoor recreational activities at the Changi Prison Complex. The changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act send a signal that rehabilitation, rather than punishment, is the way to tackle the problem of drug abusers.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Tough law came amid rise in abusers
The man who was deputy director of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in the early years of the 1990s, Mr Masbollah Fazal, recalls that his agency took a two-pronged strategy to tackling drug misuse.
