More Drug Threat Revealed

Medical professionals at the St Giles Psychiatric Hospital in Suva have noticed a new drug threat called Copen among children as young as 12 years old.

While the Copen substance could look like mango skin powder, medical professionals say it can be variable depending on where it was made and what it is mixed with.

Some are mixed with tobacco or suki leaves, coral lime powder, and toothpaste, making those who use it feel high and relaxed.

The senior medical officer at St Giles Hospital, Dr Afia Zahin, said Copen was something relatively new to medical practitioners; however, it was not new to the Pacific region in countries such as Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

Dr Zahin said the drug was dangerous because it was mixed with a mango preservative popularly known as mango skin and mango skin powder.

“We found young patients who used the drug without knowing that it was Copen,” Dr Zahin said.

“The worry is that this is a common choice of snack that schoolchildren buy, which makes it very difficult for a young person to know what it is, whether it is Copen or mango skin.

“I had this patient who came in with drug-related cases for cure; upon asking him what type of drug he was consuming, he told me he didn’t know until I described what the drug looked like. He confirmed that he had been consuming it for many years.”

Dr Zahin confirmed that, apart from Copen, meth and other related drugs had contributed to the increase in the number of patients they were seeing daily.

Pictured is what packages of the drug Copen looks like.

Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca, meanwhile, urges parents to look out for their children during the next school term. Ms Kuruleca said they were aware of this new type of drug, Copen, since last year.

She said they had also alerted the Police on this matter.

“We are aware that many young patients are being admitted to St Giles Hospital. We are finding ways to identify what’s leading them to consume these drugs,” Ms Kuruleca said.

“We are urging parents to be vigilant at all times.”

Feedback: sosiveta.korobiau@fijisun.com.fj