Simione Tuvuki 
Copen drug
Children are involved in the consumption of copen, an illicit-drug created through the mixture of tobacco like suki and substances such as toothpaste.
The National Substance Advisory Council reveals that they have discovered instances of copen-drug use among children, as illicit-drugs are progressively infiltrating our community.
Acting Chief Executive Josua Naisele says children are vulnerable to the use of copen-drug as the ingredients are readily available over the counter, and the illicit-drug can easily be mistaken for a snack; as mango and tang powder have been added to improve its taste.
Naisele says in a lot of cases, children use the illicit-drug to relieve their pain from abuse and neglect that they have encountered within their families.
“Students, most of them, when they are going through drugs, what we have found out is that some of them, they go through abuses at home. The pain that they go through, the trauma, forces them to do something in order to relieve that pain.”
Naisele encourages children to use healthy mechanisms to cope with such situation in life, as the illicit-drug would only temporarily relieve their pain.
He urges children to seek for assistance from individuals and authorities, or utilize the counselling and mentoring services offered by the National Substance Advisory Council.
Naisele says the council has counsellors and mentors who deal with children involved in substance and drug abuse around the country.
