SINGAPORE: The room is dark, windows are covered with sheets to keep out any unwanted gazes. There are four young Singapore youth strewn across the living room, their clothes are torn, or in two of their cases, nearly completely removed. One of the girls grabs a lighter, a spoon and a bag of a hard substance. She puts a small piece on the spoon and lights it, inhaling as she goes. One of the boys comes over, joining her as they get their next “fix." “We are struggling," the woman told Bikyanews.com. She is 22-years-old and dropped out of university. She now works at a local nightclub as a stripper to pay for her drugs, she said. “I enjoy the work and did it before I started the drugs, but now, it's the only way for me to get the stuff." She passes out. Her friend also passes out on top of her. For these youth in Singapore, drugs have taken their toll. For hours, all they do is sit in this small room, injecting heroin, smoking meth and getting high. They want a way out, but hardly move toward the door. “It's a never-ending cycle," said the other girl, who said she only smokes marijuana and watches over her friends to makes sure they stay safe. “I don't trust them to be safe on their own. You never know who would show up," she added. A new report from Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) released last year said that these four youth are among the demographic most likely to be arrested as drug users in the country. The mid-year report from the CNB said that the group aged 20 to 29, made up 52 percent, or 281, of such arrests – a slight increase from the 277 arrested in the same period last year. In 2010, the age group made up 39 percent of all new drug abusers arrested for the whole year. The number of new drug abusers in this age group has also been steadily climbing, from 276 for the whole of 2007, to 516 for the whole of 2010. CNB attributed this growth to the liberal attitudes of the young towards drug abuse. The group may also be more “susceptible to the strong contaminating influence posed by experienced abusers." CNB said arrests for those aged below 20 declined in the first half of the year by 44.7 percent, from 132 to 73. For these young people, they need assistance, but few are willing to stick their necks into their lives, filled with long hours of drug use and illicit activities. But social worker Margot, who as a former drug abuser, understands the struggle to get help. She now focuses on trying to locate youth in the throngs of abuse and bring them back to reality. “It is a long process that usually begins with making contact and sitting with them for hours and just trying to talk with them," she told Bikyanews.com. “Then, we try to get them to come to one of our facilities to help them understand that they have a problem." She doesn't try to force them out of their current predicament, arguing that it has to be on their own. “When I was really into all the drugs, my mind was gone and I was doing things I regret, but when I realized that life could be different, the people who had been helping me to see the real world were the first I went to." In a country where drug use and drug trafficking can see lengthy jail terms or even death, it is a sticky situation. “I just want to live my life," said one of the men at the house, adding that “this is good right now. I have no worries." For others, the realization that there is a problem will come, said Margot, and then, “they will seek out the assistance where they need it." BN
