Police downplay scale of ‘party drug’ abuse

Following the death of two young people late last month, messages about “Strawberry Quick meth” being distributed in schools started circulating through Viber groups, the common medium of messaging in the Maldives. But the message is an urban myth dating back to 2007 globally.

In a press statement released Monday on Twitter, police said cases involving party drugs were not commonly reported.

“Additionally, while news medias and social media are spreading that party drugs is very common in the Maldives, we assure you that such cases are not commonly submitted to the police. And we’d like to use this opportunity to say that the stories about party drugs being distributed in local schools are also false information. So we would like to advise that no one should spread information that incites fear in the hearts of the public.”