Dr Afia Zahin, the senior medical officer at the St Giles Psychiatric Hospital in Suva, said:
“We found young patients who used the drug without knowing that it was COPEN. The worry is that this is a common choice of snack that school children buy, which is very difficult for a young person to know what it is- whether it is COPEN or mango skin.”
So, my million-dollar question is, why isn’t this item not a prohibited import?
If it is so harmful, how did those in authority allow its import?
An immediate investigation must be facilitated without fail. The highest authority must act, post haste.
It must be urgently removed from all shelves in shops immediately, if not yet done so.
Children as young as 12 years old are being treated at the St Giles Hospital for COPEN substance.
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