Chewing gum sales ban in Singapore

Some motivations for the ban included stopping the placement of used chewing gum in inappropriate and costly places, such as the sensors of subway doors, inside lock cylinders, and on elevator buttons.

Since 2004, an exception has existed for therapeutic, dental, and nicotine chewing gum,[1] which can be bought from a doctor or registered pharmacist.

Subsequent to the ban, town councils reported a substantial decrease in chewing-gum litter in public spaces, and chewing gum no longer jammed lift doors or disrupted MRT systems.

US media paid great attention to the case of Michael P. Fay, an American teenager sentenced in 1994 to caning in Singapore for vandalism (using spray paint, not chewing gum).

[8] Confused reporting about these issues led to the myth that the use or importation of chewing gum is itself punishable with caning.

"[10] In 1999, United States President Bill Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to initiate talks between the two countries for a bilateral free trade agreement (USS-FTA).

Wrigley Jr. Company enlisted the help of a Washington, D.C. lobbyist and of Illinois Congressman Phil Crane, then-chairman of the United States House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, to get chewing gum on the agenda of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Sale of this newly categorised medicinal gum was allowed, provided it was sold by a dentist or pharmacist, who must keep a record of the names of buyers.