As the article doesn't dive into the statistics, I have taken some time to go through the official statistics.

In this graph, found on the Singapore Government's website, https://www.cnb.gov.sg/images/default-source/drug-situation-... (source: https://www.cnb.gov.sg/newsandevents/reports-(overview)/drug...).

The numbers are,

2000 - 3,157
2001 - 3,417
2002 - 3,393
2003 - 1,809
2004 - 956
2005 - 793
2006 - 1,218
...
2008 - 2,537
2009 - 2,616
2010 - 2887
...
2018 - 3,438
2019 - 3,526

It is almost certain that this data is misleading. The police have a wide latitude on whom they arrest, why they arrest them and when. From the article and my reading, it seems more like a way to deal with poor people, minorities and the occasional sex worker than a coherent drive.

Discounting the fact that there are almost certainly more than 3,500 drug abusers in a city with 5.6M people. It is apparent that between 2000 and 2019, they've run very very hard to stay where they are.

A more interesting indicator are the reports of drugs seized. As drugs fall in and out of style, I am going to focus on Cannabis, mostly because of its increase in popularity worldwide, and that it more accurately reflects middle class and upper class casual drug use.

The statistics from the government page I linked above suggested that in 2000, Singapore seized,

Cannabis - 8.53kg (18.8lbs)

I found two distinct news articles in 2021, where Singaporean authorities broke their own multi-decadal records twice in as many months,

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-drugs-idUSKBN2B...

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-says-ma...

For these two busts, one month apart, the data is,

Cannabis (Bust 1) - 20.5kg (~45.2lbs)
Cannabis (Bust 2) - 23.7 kg (~52.25 lb)

These are two shipments that they've seized. Assuming that they've gotten better over time, as have the smugglers, it means that the amount flowing into the country, is probably in the 500lb+ range. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the thousands of pounds.

On the other hand, in the US, with the legalization of pot slowly across the States, the cartels are being forced to go legit, enter other businesses or go bankrupt. As it is cheaper (when not too heavily taxed by other businesses and governments), safer and more pleasant. These figures have been obtained from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, “Independent Review of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Reporting of Drug Control Performance Summary Reports,” 2008, 2011; Customs and Border Protection, “Sector Profiles,” 2012–2017; Customs and Border Protection, “Enforcement Statistics FY 2018,” August 31, 2018; Carla Argueta, “Border Security,” Congressional Research Service, April 19, 2016.,

2013 (pre-legalization) - 114lbs/agent
2014 (post) - 92lbs/agent
2015 - 76lbs/agent
2016 - 65lbs/agent
2017 - 44lbs/agent

And it keeps going down from there. Although the Cato Institute is a biased source, this article has excellent material, https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/how-legalizing-marijuan...

Overall, the drug war is a fantastic tool for beating and suppressing the other in society, but it's a very poor tool for actually controlling drugs.

One of the (arguably) best introductions in Cinema history spells out why fairly clearly, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwoCyF6qJzE , perhaps someone should ask the Singaporean politicians to watch the movie?

I am biased. I am coming from an extreme on the pro-drug side. It is my hope that eventually humanity will get past these immature hang ups and genetically engineer/implant drug glands into ourselves that would allow us to alter our neuro-chemical states as we wish.

I first read about them in Iain M. Banks' Culture series and they seem like an amazing idea. Feeling stressed? Gland calm. Need to stop reading HN and work? Gland focus. In a life-or-death situation? Gland combat.

Perfectly tailored mind states, when you need them, delivered when you ask for them. It sucks to be "Human-basic" as Banks' called it, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Physiology