A look inside a recent drug bust involving a mother abusing substances in her home with her infant son has shocked some Singaporeans.
A single photo of drugs and drug paraphernalia littering a filthy room shared by a mother and her 9-month-old son drew disturbed responses today after it was shared by the Central Narcotics Bureau.
“Distressing scene: Baby found near drugs during op at abuser’s unit,” the bureau wrote. “Such scenes, though rare in Singapore, are a stark reminder that those who deal in drugs destroy lives.”
Officials said they recently caught the woman, who is the boy’s sole caregiver, doing ice while caring for her son. Her “squalid” living conditions can be seen in the soiled thin mattress, used tissues littering the floor, and cigarettes and drugs left in the open.
“[P]oor baby this is very sad. 9months old for god sake,” Cyclediary09 wrote.
The baby has been handed over to the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the woman will be placed in a rehabilitation program.
Some called for harsher punishments for drug users.
“Omg [useless] parents, instead of going to work and support the kids but chose to just take drugs and rot their life away,” Gojira_han wrote.
Singapore already has some of the harshest drug laws in the world and reform activists have noted that fears about being getting in trouble with the law prevent some drug users from seeking help as doctors are required by law to report any patients who use drugs to the Central Narcotics Bureau.
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