This has been widely reported, but deserves repetition: the BBC and others (see Police duped over fictional drug) have been caught out for repeating a hoax story about "strawberry meth", an alleged drug being distributed to schoolchildren. Some headteachers who received it even held special assemblies to pass it on. This has quite a strong resemblance to the old Blue Star Tattoos urban myth.
I'm sorry to say that that the accounts of this story repeatedly excuse the propagation as being "in good faith" (see here and other sources). I have run into this no end of times on calling bullshit on paranoid garbage being forwarded to me via e-mails whose senders failed to put brain into gear, and the senders invariably go into some defensive whine about it being in good faith.
"Good faith" is no excuse for being a total fuckwit and copying some scary story without engaging critical faculties. The policeperson and headteachers who passed this on deserve strong censure for failing to provide accurate information to those whom they are supposed to be protecting.
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Strawberry meth does indeed exist here in North America, and more than anything, it was created out of boredom by meth cooks. It's also an excellent way of attenuating the rather harsh taste of meth when smoked.
However, to suggest that a meth dealer or cook would target school children as a viable demographic for a drug like meth is as laughable for the U.K. as it was when it was a so-called story her in North America.
Meth cooks, dealers and users are the most paranoid of the paranoid -and are unlikely to put much faith in a kid who would rat them out in exchange for a candy bar or video game.
Coke is also found in flavors now, here's a link to a story from just the other day, straight from the DEA:
http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/newsrel/sanfran031008.html
Just remember, in order perpetuate the futile enforcement-emphasized "war on drugs," there always has to be a new enemy or threat. Here in North America, we get a new one every week.
Jim Stephens
Chief Information Officer
All Positive Options
http://www.allpositiveoptions.com
This sounds a lot like the "prestige coke" that had the young trendies all in a twitter a few years ago;
Nothing but the finest cocaine, subjected to an arduous preparation technique which infused it with strawberry essence. Very designer, very chic.
As it turned out it was just coke cut with strawberry flavoured Nestle Quick.
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