A 13-year-old girl was spotted using a vape laced with an anaesthetic outside Singapore’s State Courts, the city state’s Health Sciences Authority said on Tuesday.
The girl, who is assisting with investigations, was seen behaving “erratically” while vaping in public outside the courts in Chinatown on April 24.
“She was unsteady in gait and appeared to be oblivious of her surroundings; a sign of possible drug intoxication,” the authority said.
Officers identified the 13-year-old girl and raided her residence, seizing a vape that has been tested to contain etomidate – a medicinal ingredient used in clinical practice as an anaesthetic agent, which Hong Kong classified as a dangerous drug in February due to its illicit use in “space oil”.
Adverse effects of etomidate use include nausea and vomiting, muscle spasms, changes to breathing and blood pressure, seizures and psychosis.
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority said it had identified and caught the person who sold the vape to the 13-year-old. One vape and three pods that were seized from the seller were also found to contain etomidate.