Singapore has launched a crackdown on vapes, eight years after banning the product, moving in lockstep with several countries around the world in clamping down on e-cigarettes.

The campaign comes as a rising number of teenagers in the country are found to have been using k-pods - vapes that are laced with the drug etomidate, an anaesthetic agent used in hospitals. The new penalties include fines, mandatory rehab, and caning for suppliers of k-pods.

Can Singapore succeed in stamping out all types of vape products? Is it able to sustain an all-out effort to crack down on vapers in the country? On this episode of Asia Specific, host Mariko Oi talks to two BBC journalists based in Singapore, Tessa Wong and Derek Cai, to understand the reason behind the city-state’s recent clampdown on vaping.

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Hosted in Singapore by Mariko Oi, alongside BBC experts in Beijing, Bangkok, and beyond – listen to new episodes twice a week. Episodes of Asia Specific are also available on YouTube, here: https://bit.ly/4iJyeVt

Read more about Singapore's vaping crackdown on the BBC here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3387lrz5g4o

Get in touch: asiaspecific@bbc.co.uk

Inside Singapore’s war on vapes

Asia Specific

Inside Singapore’s war on vapes