Vaping is unremarkable in the United States. In Singapore, having a vaporiser in your possession is a criminal offence, and the country’s health regulator publishes the penalties. It is enforced as law, and customs does not simply confiscate the device and move on.
Possession alone is the offence
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) states the rule without qualification: “From 1 February 2018, the purchase, possession, and use of emerging and imitation tobacco products, which include vaporisers, have been prohibited.”
Purchase, possession and use are each independently illegal. The rule does not say “public use” or “sale to minors”, and you do not need to be caught vaping to be in violation. Having the device is enough.
What it can cost you
HSA publishes a penalty for each of three categories. Individuals face a fine of up to $10,000. Suppliers and importers face imprisonment that HSA calls mandatory:
Suppliers: Mandatory imprisonment for up to 6 years, and a fine of up to $200,000 Importers: Mandatory imprisonment for up to 9 years, and a fine of up to $300,000 Individuals: Can be fined up to $10,000
Importing is a category of its own, with its own band.
Etomidate-laced devices carry a harsher penalty
Some vaporisers seized in Singapore have contained etomidate, and the authority treats that category more seriously than an ordinary vaporiser:
Suppliers: 2 to 10 years’ imprisonment and 2 to 5 strokes of the cane Importers: 3 to 20 years’ imprisonment and 5 to 15 strokes of the cane Individuals: Can be fined up to $20,000, or face up to 10 years of imprisonment, or both
The penalty attaches to what the device contains, and it sits far above the general $10,000 fine.
Read the importer line before you pack more than one device. Three to twenty years and five to fifteen strokes of the cane is the published penalty. Singapore lists etomidate and its analogues as specified psychoactive substances under the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act with effect from 1 May 2026. The Act was renamed from the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements & Sale) Act on the same date. This is current law.
Nothing published tells a traveller how many devices make someone an importer rather than an individual in possession. That threshold is the gap here, and it is a reason to carry none.
Rehabilitation since September 2025
The authority states that “beyond punitive measures, etomidate offenders and repeat vaporiser users are also required to attend rehabilitation to support them in giving up vaping,” effective 1 September 2025. It applies to etomidate offenders and to people caught more than once. A first-time vaporiser possession case is not covered.
Enforcement reaches hospitals
The source states that “authorised officers including, but not limited to, security officers and operations managers at public healthcare institutions have been empowered under the TVCA to take enforcement action against vaporiser offenders on their institution’s premises.” So enforcement authority extends to hospitals and healthcare facilities as well as ports of entry.
Transiting with a vaporiser
HSA bans “the purchase, possession, and use” of vaporisers, and says these came “in addition to earlier prohibitions on the importation, sale, and distribution of these products.” Importation carries its own penalty band, set out above.
The page does not describe how enforcement treats an unused vaporiser carried through Singapore in transit, compared with one intended for use there. The plain wording covers possession outright, so we would not assume transit is handled differently.
If you vape, the only way to avoid all of this is to bring no device, pod or e-liquid into Singapore.
Corrections
18 September 2026. This page said HSA “does not publish figures for any category other than individuals,” and told any reader “bringing in multiple devices” that “HSA’s guidance does not cover your situation.”
HSA publishes a figure for every category, and the categories it publishes are the severe ones. Importers of prohibited products face mandatory imprisonment of up to 9 years and a fine of up to $300,000. Importers of devices containing specified psychoactive substances face 3 to 20 years’ imprisonment and 5 to 15 strokes of the cane.
The figures sat directly above the ones this page already quoted. HSA presents them as three-line lists, Suppliers, Importers, Individuals, and both times only the third line was read and the first two were described as missing.
A second claim in the same section was wrong for the same reason. The page was said not to use the word “import”, yet it states the prohibitions came in addition to “earlier prohibitions on the importation, sale, and distribution of these products.”
This is recorded in full rather than quietly edited. Telling someone carrying several vaporisers into Singapore that the regulator has published nothing about their position, when what it has published includes caning, is the most serious error this site has made.