Singapore to allow chewing gum — by prescription only STRANGE BUT TRUE

SINGAPORE (AP) – As part of a landmark trade deal with the United States, tightly controlled Singapore has agreed to loosen its 10-year ban on chewing gum and allow those who need it to chew it — as long as they have a prescription.

Singapore’s chief negotiator Tommy Koh said recently part of the free trade deal, “sugarless gum prescribed by doctors and dentists as having therapeutic and medicinal benefits will be sold in pharmacies”.

Tightly controlled Singapore outlawed the import, manufacture and sale of chewing gum in 1992, arguing that discarded lumps of gum were hard to clean from its tidy streets, and that gum stuck in subway doors had delayed trains.

Some locals welcomed any relaxation of the ban, but said the latest compromise wouldn’t go far enough.

“It’s a small step towards a good change,” said 37-year-old Toru Umatani, a fund manager and a smoker. “I think this country is a little strict.”

Salesman Rajat Gupta, 22, said it was “ridiculous” that chewing gum would be available by prescription only. But negotiators here are proud of their compromise, which allows both the strict regulation of gum imports and what U.S. trade representative Robert Zoellick called a “modest entry point” for U.S. gum manufacturers. Details of the amount to be allowed in have not been released.