‘I can’t control my violent behaviour’ — Young man shares experience with zombie cigarettes

A man who went berserk and attacked his mother after smoking zombie cigarettes shared his experience after undergoing seven weeks of compulsory rehabilitation treatment. The treatment took place at the National Addiction Management Service (NAMS) for five weeks and at the WE CARE Addiction Rehabilitation and Education Centre for two weeks. 

The New Paper reported in June that the 27-year-old son became zombie-like after smoking  “zombie cigarette cartridges”. He then attacked his mother, hitting her head against the wall and trying to strangle her. The mother later said that being beaten by her own son was worse than death itself. 

“After smoking, I become unconscious, my anger is magnified, and I can’t control my violent behaviour. Now I’ve really had enough, so I have to take the first step!,” the man declared.

How the incident happened

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the man recalled how the horrible incident happened this year. He shared that he returned home after smoking the zombie cigarette and found out that the smart lock on his home could not be opened. 

The son was not then aware that his mother had already disabled the smart lock card, so he proceeded to climb onto a shoe cabinet in the hallway, walking along the top of a low wall until he reached a window to get inside. The mother was terrified by his actions and immediately called the police. 

When she finally confronted her son about his cigarette addiction, the son lost control of his emotions and ran to the living room window, threatening to jump. The mother then used all her strength to hug her son and pull him, but then he attacked her. 

“During the argument, he choked me and slammed my head against the wall, which bruised my right foot,” the mother stated. 

The son then underwent rehabilitation. After a few weeks, he shared: “I vaguely understood what I was doing, but I couldn’t control my behaviour. I was locked up in there for five weeks while they tried to wean me off zombie cigarettes.” He shared that he had a hard time quitting and felt sad about it. 

“I quit in November last year, then began again at the end of February this year. I stopped for another month, but then I couldn’t resist and started again sooner each time,” the man stated. 

He then admitted that he was angry about being locked up at first but thought that he would leave eventually, so he calmed down. He also realised that he did not want to live a life like a living corpse, so he decided to change his life.

After his rehabilitation sessions, the man continues to receive regular treatment. 

“I no longer have any cravings for zombie cigarettes. Now I have to take it one step at a time and completely quit,” he declared. 

In Singapore, if you encounter family violence, you should call the police.  The police may then decide to charge the person and send the case to court.