Singapore relaxes chewing gum ban

Chewing gum will no longer be a criminal offence in Singapore - but it will only be sold on prescription.

Chief negotiator Tommy Koh said that the 10-year ban is being relaxed as part of the free trade deal with the US.

Sugarless gum prescribed by doctors and dentists as having therapeutic and medicinal benefits will be sold in pharmacies.

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 it stuck in train doors.

Some locals have welcomed the relaxation of the ban, but say 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.