A viral image of a small packet with pink pills is doing the rounds of social media, accompanied by a claim that the image shows a dangerous drug called "Strawberry Quick"—purportedly a flavored methamphetamine—and is being distributed to children in schools.
BOOM found this claim to be false; our fact-check shows that the distribution of “Strawberry Quick” to children is a hoax, which had gone viral through forwarded emails back in 2007, and had been debunked by US authorities. Following the recent revival of this hoax, it has been dismissed again as an unsubstantiated rumour by authorities in Nigeria, along with Arunachal Pradesh Police in India.
The image of tiny pink teddy bears is viral with a false caption claiming, "NEW DRUG IN SCHOOL: Parents should know about this! This is a new drug (below) colloquially known as "Strawberry Quick ".
The claim asks parents and children to beware and adds, "There's a very horrific thing going on in schools right now that we all need to be aware of. There's a type of Crystal Meth circulating in our education institutions that looks like Strawberry Pop Rocks (the candy that "pops" and sizzles in one's mouth). It smells like strawberry and it's being handed out to children in schools' neighbourhoods. They're calling it Strawberry Meth or Strawberry Quick. School-children are ingesting this harmful drug assuming that it's just as good as candy. It's alleged that after eating the "candies", they often find themselves in hospital in a dire condition. It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange flavours. Please instruct your children NOT to accept candy from strangers, not to accept candy that looks like this from a friend -who may have been given and believed it was candy - and in case they come across it, to take it to the school teachers or the principal, immediately!"
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BOOM also received the same image and text for verification on its WhatApp tipline.
Authorities Dismiss Claim As Hoax
BOOM looked up the message on the internet using keywords, and found a few recent reports containing quotes by authorities from around the world dismissing it as a hoax.
A fact-check written by Africa Check quoted Jonah Achema, a spokesperson for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, as saying, "We've not had any report about a form of strawberry crystal meth or 'strawberry quick' being given out to kids as sweets."
Furthermore, a syndicated PTI report, published by The Print recently, quoted an advisory issued by the Arunachal Pradesh police, rubbishing the viral claims of a "narcotic drug strawberry meth” or “strawberry quick” being distributed to schoolchildren. The report quoted the Itanagar Capital complex Superitendent of police who called the messages "incorrect."
Both Africa Check's fact-check and the advisory by Singh calls "Strawberry Quick" a hoax and a rumour that started in 2007 in the United States, highlighting that it has been debunked previously by the US authorities.
A Hoax From The Email-Chain Age
In 2007, this hoax first appeared under the name of "Strawberry Quik", named of popular cereal brand Nesquik, and made a similar claim of methamphetamine being flavoured and coloured by drug dealers to make them more appealing to children.
This hoax initially appeared in forwarded emails, and eventually made it to media reports in the US. This grew in prominence, after the Nevada Department of Public Safety put out a bulletin to spread awareness on flavoured meth being used to draw younger customers.
Following this, US-based fact-checking outlet Snopes debunked the viral hoax, by collating responses from the DEA and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy which suggested that the reports of "Strawberry quick" were unsubstantiated.
Snopes quoted DEA spokesperson Michael Sanders as saying, "We checked with all of our labs, and there's nothing to it. It's not a trend or a real problem; I think that this was maybe someone with good intentions but jumped the gun."
Additionally, Tom Riley, a spokesperson for ONDCP, was quoted as saying, "There are a lot of people in prevention and law enforcement talking about it, but in terms of actual seizures we haven't seen much,"
After a series of keyword searches, BOOM was unable to find a single relevant report which could substantiate the claim of such a drugs being distributed as candies to target school children.
