ST gets an inside look at where it happens – at the Health Sciences Authority’s Illicit Drugs Laboratory. SINGAPORE – The names are often innocuous, like Mushroom, Pink or Spice, but the purpose is deadly.
New psychoactive substances, or NPS, are sometimes also disguised as anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax and diazepam.
This new generation of drugs are among some of the most common ones found in raids islandwide.
However, they are difficult to identify as syndicates constantly tweak their chemical structures to avoid detection by the authorities.
Compared to known drugs, which can be identified in three to four days, it typically takes at least two weeks to do the same for NPS.
In Singapore, the team of experts who analyse these drugs work in the Health Sciences Authority’s (HSA) Illicit Drugs Laboratory.
The Straits Times visited the laboratory in Outram recently for an inside look at where the new substances and other traditional drugs such as heroin, cannabis and Ecstasy are analysed to help the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and other authorities in legal proceedings.
“The NPS market is highly dynamic with new NPS appearing as fast as those that have disappeared from the market,” said the laboratory’s senior forensic scientist Ong Mei Ching.
She added: “The numbers and types of NPS are constantly evolving across the globe and in Singapore. The analytical method used would hence need to be constantly reviewed and enhanced in order to keep up with the evolving trend, which is indeed challenging.”
The laboratory also provides the CNB with reports on the new drugs so legislative measures can keep pace with the NPS market.
“This has contributed to timely control of new NPS encountered in Singapore, and greatly reduced the opportunistic window that drug traffickers can use to trade the new drugs,” said Dr Ong.
As at Sept 4, under the Misuse of Drugs Act, there are 12 generic groups and 67 individually named NPS drugs listed as Class A controlled drugs. It is an offence to traffic, manufacture, import, export, possess or consume such drugs.
The drugs defined in the generic classes have the same core chemical structure. This grouping allows for a range of drugs with substitutions to their chemical structure to be controlled.
Those found guilty of possessing or consuming NPS face up to 10 years’ jail, a fine of $20,000, or both. Those convicted of trafficking, manufacturing, importing or exporting NPS face a minimum of five years’ imprisonment and five strokes of the cane.
While the toxicities and pharmacological effects of NPS are not fully known, they have psychoactive effects which are meant to mimic that of traditional drugs.
Since their chemical structures are constantly modified, abusers often do not know what they are consuming. There have been four NPS-related deaths since 2016.
There is currently no evidence that these drugs are produced locally. However, they are the second-most abused among new offenders in Singapore, and the third-most overall, with 414 or 11.7 per cent of total drug abusers arrested for taking NPS last year.
The NPS first emerged in Europe in 2004 and spread rapidly around the world. From 126 variants of NPS detected globally in 2009, the figure spiked to 892 last year.
The World Drug Report 2020 noted that most of the synthetic NPS identified globally in the last decade are stimulants, followed by synthetic cannabinoids and hallucinogens.
In order to deal with the rising threat of NPS, it was announced during the debate on the Ministry Home Affairs’ budget in March that Singapore would review its laws.
The ministry has been proactively listing NPS since 2010.
The CNB and HSA told ST last month that they handle the NPS threat by strengthening legislation, enhancing detection and enforcement, and renewing efforts to educate young people about the harms of drugs and NPS.
For example, the CNB regularly lists NPS that have emerged in the global market that have no legal uses, and a significant proportion of the NPS reported overseas are already currently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
For the scientists in the illicit drugs laboratory, keeping ahead of the drug trends remains crucial to helping the authorities have a better understanding of the NPS threat in Singapore.
“The advent of NPS since a decade ago has brought about a paradigm shift in drug identification for forensic laboratories,” said Dr Ong.
Gas chromatography mass spectrometry, a method of chemical analysis to identify traditional drugs, may be insufficient to tackle NPS, she added.
“In order to cope with these challenges, we must be agile and adaptable,” she said.

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform.