DRUG CULTURE DEFIES THE DEATH SENTENCE

IT is Friday night. Ling, a bank analyst in Armani heels, pops a blue
pill into her mouth and dances to the thumping beat.

Later she heads to a house party with her friends where they snort
cocaine off tabletops.

Singapore's party drug scene used to be the domain of high-flying
foreign bankers and other expatriates who would take ecstasy and
snort cocaine in defiance of the city state's punitive drug laws.

But these days the drug scene for foreigners is not as pronounced as
among well-to-do locals in a country which has the world's
fastest-growing number of high net-worth individuals, totalling some
67,000 in 2006.

With one gram of methamphetamine costing S$300 (US$207), it is an
expensive habit that not everyone can feed.

Singapore authorities say drug use is low, but anecdotal evidence
tells of the emergence of an underground party drug scene mostly at
night clubs frequented by the wealthy.

Singapore is Asia's second-richest country, with a 2006 GDP per
capita of $29,000, on a par with Italy and Spain. The booming
economy, driven by manufacturing and financial services, has made the
city-state a playground for the rich.

And with money to throw around, some of these rich Singaporeans are
spending it on drugs smuggled from neighbouring Indonesia, Malaysia
and the Philippines.

They are taking a big risk.

In Singapore, anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin, 30
grams of cocaine, 500 grams of cannabis or 250 grams of
methamphetamines faces a mandatory death sentence by hanging.

"There are definitely a lot of people doing drugs in the party scene,
but it doesn't get reported," said Ling, who would only give her first name.

With its borders closely monitored, it is not clear how drugs enter
Singapore. But former gang members say some drugs are brought in on
boats from Indonesian islands, or smuggled from Malaysia.

According to Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) figures, 1,127
drug users were arrested in 2006 compared to 793 in 2005. Amnesty
International says about 400 people have been sentenced to death in
Singapore since 1991, most for drug trafficking.