PUBLISHED ONFebruary 04, 2026 11:05 AMBYSean LerThe Ministry of Home Affairs will extend the listing of etomidate as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), when its temporary listing expires on Feb 28, said Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam.
In a written parliamentary reply to MP Ng Shi Xuan (Sembawang GRC) on Wednesday (Feb 4), the minister said that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is finalising its proposed legislative amendments and will table it in Parliament within the first half of 2026.
He added that MHA will extend the listing of etomidate as a Class C drug under the MDA, until MOH's bill comes into force.
In a separate written reply to Ng, Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung confirmed that MOH will table the proposed legislative amendments in Parliament.
Since Sept 1, 2025, etomidate has been temporarily classified as a Class C drug under the MDA.
This allowed the Government to take decisive steps to tackle the situation involving etomidate-laced vapes, including tougher enforcement actions and rehabilitation for users.
Speaking in Parliament in September last year, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal described the situation involving such vapes as urgent.
After etomidate was reclassified under the MDA, abusers faced harsher penalties, such as a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail and a $20,000 fine for possession and use.
Those who traffic etomidate-laced e-vaporisers, or Kpods, may also be jailed for up to 10 years and given five strokes of the cane.
This is compared with the maximum penalty of two years' jail and a $10,000 fine when etomidate, a medical ingredient used in clinical practice, was listed under the Poisons Act.
Since the new measures kicked in on Sept 1, 2025, a total of 3,543 people have been fined for possessing and using vapes between September and December, and 366 of these offenders were caught with Kpods.
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