DURING my growing-up years, I was warned I might become a drug addict if I kept bad company, listened to the wrong kind of music, let my hair grow too long, or failed to do my homework.

Singapore took a very hard line against narcotics in the 1970s and 1980s, and – for better or worse – it shaped the attitudes and mores of a generation.

This past week, many people expressed support for Joseph Schooling after startling revelations that he had been investigated by the Central Narcotics Bureau and confessed to consuming cannabis while overseas.