Hong Kong will ban an emerging drug called “space oil” next year

Hong Kong will ban an emerging drug called “space oil” next year and add it to the existing narcotics law, the security minister said.

The drug, usually packaged in e-cigarette capsules, contained the anesthetic etomidate, which could cause mental and physical harm, Security Minister Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Wednesday, pledging to address the increasing proliferation of space oil by updating the dangerous drugs counteract regulation.

Etomidate will be added to the banned substances list in the first half of next year, he added.

Once the drug is listed, anyone who possesses, smokes, inhales, injects or otherwise ingests space oil containing etomidate could face up to seven years in prison and a fine of HK$1 million (US$128,650), Tang noted Trafficking in the substance could result in life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine, he added.

Tang said frontline anti-drug workers noticed the emergence of space oil when some young people vaped it last year after the Covid-19 pandemic subsided.

According to government figures, 69 people have been arrested for possession or sale of the drug so far this year, with nine cases in 2023. Six teenagers were arrested by Kwai Tsing district police last week on suspicion of selling space oil under the guise or possessing e-cigarette capsules.

The Action Committee Against Drugs reported last month that space oil had become the third most popular drug among young users in the first half of the year, behind cannabis and cocaine.