Reasons for Rise in Recidivism Rate at Drug Rehabilitation Centre Inmates

2 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view of the two-year recidivism rate for inmates released from drug rehabilitation centres (DRCs) reaching the highest since 2015 (a) what factors have contributed to the rise in the recidivism rate; (b) whether the Ministry is reviewing the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes within DRCs; and (c) where do drug abusers obtain their supplies from and whether the increased accessibility to drugs has contributed to the increase in recidivism rate.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the recidivism rate is influenced by many factors, including the extent of the ex-offender’s family or peer support after their release into the community, as well as their ability to remain gainfully employed.

In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) changed the drug rehabilitation regime such that abusers who are arrested for the third and subsequent times are sent to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) for rehabilitation, instead of being prosecuted and subject to an extended imprisonment term. Since this change, the proportion of repeat drug abusers in the DRC release cohorts has increased from about 35% for the 2020 release cohort to 54% for the 2022 release cohort. Repeat drug abusers have a higher likelihood of reoffending and this may have contributed to the increase in the recidivism rate of DRC inmates.

Singapore Prison Service (SPS) regularly reviews the DRC regime to ensure it remains effective in addressing the drug abusers’ risks and needs. For example, to better prepare drug abusers for release, SPS recently established the Re-integration Hub to centralise the pre-emplacement regime for drug abusers who are scheduled for release on community-based programmes.

Drug abusers obtain drugs from various sources, including through platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp. To curb the accessibility and supply of drugs into Singapore, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) regularly orders online platforms to take down material advertising the sale of controlled drugs and takes tough action against drug traffickers as well as syndicates operating from overseas. Last year, CNB dismantled 25 drug syndicates and made significant drug seizures with an estimated market value of about $13.5 million. CNB will continue with its robust enforcement efforts to stem the supply of drugs and keep Singapore drug-free.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The Minister of State mentioned that repeat drug abusers have a higher likelihood of reoffending. What are two-year recidivism rates of those with drug antecedents compared to those without drug antecedents? And recognising that re-integration into society is critical for preventing relapse, what post-release support systems are currently in place for former DRC inmates and how does the Ministry collaborate with community organisations to ensure continuous support? And are there plans to expand these initiatives?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, based on the two-year recidivism rate, inmates with previous drug antecedents are approximately three times more likely to reoffend than those without.

If you look at the release cohorts over five years, you can see that the recidivism rates are also different, about three times more. When we look at the recidivism rate for the release cohort in 2018, for those with drug antecedents, it was 29.9%. For release cohort 2019, it was 27.4%. For release cohort 2020, it was 26.9%. For release cohort 2021, it was 29.2%. For release cohort 2022, it was 29.7%.

And if you look at those without drug antecedents, so, for the 2018 cohort, with drug antecedents, it was 29.9%, and without drug antecedents, it was 11.6%. For 2019, with drug antecedents, it was 27.4%, compared to without drug antecedents, it was 9.8%. For 2020, with drug antecedents, it was 26.9%, without drug antecedents, it was 9.4%. For release cohort 2021, with drug antecedents, it was 29.2%, and without drug antecedents, it was 9.4%. And the recent one, for release cohort 2022, with drug antecedents, it was 29.7%, and without drug antecedents, it was 9.8%.

So, with this we know the harms that drugs do to individuals. That is why we go upstream to work with the community to see how we can prevent anyone, even one person, from taking drugs, because we know drugs are harmful.

We have extensive preventive drug education programmes and then, recently, we launched the Inter-Ministry Committee on Drug Prevention for Youths, and we have organisations coming onboard to help us with Dadah Itu Haram programmes. It is about reaching out to the community so that we can help our people to stay away from drugs.

This is important. I hope that we can get support from the House as well as society here in Singapore, fellow Singaporeans, because when you do not have a tough stance on drugs, it will seep into the society, it will break the society, destroy the society. Many of my counterparts that I have met overseas shared with me, without them knowing, some of their countries have become a narco-state.

So, we want to make sure we help Singaporeans to have avenues for a pro-social quality of life. What is key is that we must make sure that while there are those who just do drug abusing, consumption, but we have seen how drug consumption have led to criminal activities. So, when someone is arrested, not only for drug consumption, but with some criminality aspect, it gets difficult and it gets more complicated. It will destroy the families, it will destroy the society, not only the individual. So, I hope that we can work together on this.

While there are those who have been arrested for consumption or any related drug antecedent, we want to help them. Essentially, that is why we have the Re-integration Hub, where we bring in programmes relating to employment, relating to how they can improve their social esteem and also how they can feel they have a sense of belonging. There are also religious programmes at the Re-integration Hub.

We also have organisations, platforms like the Yellow Ribbon Community Project, Malay/Muslim Organisations Rehabilitation Network, Prison Fellowship, Hindu Centre, coming on board to help us. Recently, we also roll out the Desistor Network to get these desistors to play a part in this effort. It is about enhancing all these efforts together so that we will continue to support them, even though they have taken drugs. They have abused drugs, they have committed an offence, but we want to provide them with second chances, so that they can build up their lives for better days ahead.