Thane: Police debunk viral ‘Strawberry Quick’ drug claims by cop

Thane City Police constable Anjali Umesh Gawde recently issued a warning via an Instagram reel about a drug called lsquoStrawberry Quickrsquo claiming that the strawberryflavoured form of methamphetamine MDMA also known as ecstasy is being widely sold outside college premises She urged students and parents to remain vigilantmidday crosschecked with police authorities to verify if any such cases had been reported in Mumbai Thane Navi Mumbai or the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR While law enforcement agencies continue their crackdown on narcotics such as MDMA mephedrone and LSD there have been no reported cases of these drugs being distributed in school environments This makes the video by the Thane police constable an instance of unverified information presented using unsubstantiated claims posing as a social media warningScreengrab of the reel made by Constable Anjali Umesh GawdeIn the reel the cop in the caption wrote ldquoNew drug in schools Please pass this on even if you do not have kids in school Parents should know about this drug This is a new drug known as lsquostrawberry quickrsquo This is a very scary thing going on in the schools right now that we all need to be aware of There is a type of crystal meth going around that looks like strawberry pop rocks the candy that sizzles and lsquopopsrsquo in your mouth It also smells like strawberry and it is being handed out to kids in school yardsThey are calling it strawberry meth or strawberry quick Kids are ingesting this thinking that it is candy and being rushed off to the hospital in 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 and even not to accept candy that looks like this from a friend who may have been given it and believed it is candy and to take any that they may have to a teacher principal etc Immediately pass this message on to as many people as you canrdquo The caption ended with multiple lsquotrendingrsquo hashtags like viralvideos viralreels reelitfeelit etclsquoPic is a stock photorsquoSenior police inspector Rahul Mhaske of the AntiNarcotics Cell Thane confirmed that the image of the pink teddy bearshaped pill is a stock photo ldquoThe image is from an old case abroad dating back to 2017 It has no relevance here and no such cases have been reported to substantiate the claims made in the videordquo said MhaskeIn 2017 four 13yearold schoolgirls in Manchester England were reportedly hospitalised after consuming similar pink teddy bearshaped pills Before the Maharashtra Police dismissed the existence of ldquostrawberry quickrdquo the Arunachal Pradesh Police had also urged citizens to ignore viral social media messages claiming that druglaced candy was being distributed to schoolchildren The police clarified that this hoax first surfaced in 2007 in the United StatesAmarsingh Jadhav deputy commissioner of police Thane confirmed that no such cases have been reported in Thane and assured that he would look into the Instagram reel Meanwhile senior officials from the Mumbai Police also confirmed to midday that no cases of ldquostrawberry quickrdquo have been reported in the island cityAnjali Gawde has over 617K followers on her Instagram profile and this reel has garnered a whopping 28 million views and 69k likes While no cases of ldquostrawberry quickrdquo have been reported in the MMR law enforcers have seized a significant amount of MDMA which is the same type of drug as ecstasy a habitforming substance Selling these types of drugs is a punishable offence under Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of at least Rs 1 lakhParents speakmidday spoke to a couple of parents the target audience of the video to gauge their reactions ldquoI was terrified My first thought was what if my daughter being the naive girl she is mistakes the drug for candy Since she was little my husband and I have always told her not to accept anything from strangers Now we will be even more cautious to ensure her safetyrdquo said Sulekha Rajput a Kalyan resident whose daughter studies at a Ghatkoparbased collegeMeanwhile another parent from Chembur said she came across the viral video two days ago and immediately believed it to be authentic as the creator was a uniformed police officer ldquoShe was in uniformmdashwhy would she make it up Thatrsquos what I thought I asked my son about it and he said itrsquos all baseless rumours He even assured memdashswearing on me his mothermdashthat if such a situation ever arises he will be careful But as parents we canrsquot help but worry about our childrsquos safety and wellbeingrdquo said the parent whose son is currently studying at St Andrewrsquos College in Bandra At the end of the conversation midday assured both the parents that the video was a hoax and that there was no reason to panic