Strawberry drugs not seen in Springs

The new drug in schools, described in several Facebook posts over the past weeks, has not yet been detected in Springs.

Both Captain Johannes Ramphora, the Springs SAPS spokesman and Barries Barnard of the local organisation, Hi5Kids, say they have not seen the drug here.

Barnard says he has encountered crystal meth in straws, that looks like the sherbet children sometimes eat, in Springs.

The new drug the Facebook post warned parents about is known as strawberry quick and is a type of crystal meth.

It looks and smells like strawberry pop rocks, the sweets that sizzles and ‘pop’ in your mouth.

The post warned that children may ingest this, thinking it is sweets.

It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange flavours.

The post requests parents to instruct their children not to accept sweets from strangers nor from a friend.

Ramphora says parents should explain to their children the type of drugs they may encounter and the effects it may have on the child’s life.

He also says children have to be alert about drugs and report any drugs like this to teachers, or their parents or the police.

An ex-drug user, Mandla Nkambule (29) from Geluksdal said to the Addie’s sister paper, African Reporter last week that crystal meth, also known as tik, seems stronger than the nyaope people are using.

Crystal meth, according to Nkambule, crystal meth stays in your blood stream for at least three days and may cause the user not to sleep for three or more days.

The website www.drugfreeworld.org says crystal meth is short for crystal methamphetamine, which is only one form of the drug methamphetamine, a white crystalline drug that people take by snorting it, smoking it or injecting it with a needle into their blood stream.

Users of this drug develop a strong desire to continue using it because the drug creates a false sense of happiness and well-being.

Crystal meth’s effect are highly concentrated which gets many users addicted from the first time they use it.

It is a dangerous and potent chemical that first acts as a stimulant but then begins to systematically destroy the body.

It destroys a user’s life and causes serious health conditions, including memory loss, aggression, psychotic behaviour and potential heart and brain damage.