ZAGREB, CROATIA – The panic that arose regarding a new drug on the market which is allegedly packaged as candy, that is, chewing gum, chocolate bars or gummy bears, is unnecessary and premature, psychiatrist Slavko Sakoman, famous for treating Croatian drug addicts, believes. The head of the Croatian police director’s office, Krunoslav Borovec, agrees with him and says that there has been no confiscation of any similar substances in Croatia.

- At the moment we have no information about that kind of drug, nor did we have any confiscations of these drugs – Borovec told us. Despite claims from Montenegrin media that the drug is travelling on the “Balkan route” to countries of West Europe, no neighbouring countries have confiscated any such drugs either and nobody knows anything about the chewing gum-drug.

Apparently the drug is sold to Montenegrin high school students, it looks like candy, it is five more powerful than ecstasy and its ingredients are cannabis and opium.

Serbian media say the country of origin is Kosovo, which was allegedly confirmed to them by the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). But neither Serbia, like Croatia, nor Bosnia have intercepted any such packets or tested the make-up of the drug.

But, if the Serbian Press is to be believed, the chewing gums are travelling from Kosovo through two channels. First via Sandzak towards Bosnia and Croatia and the other via two Albanian ports towards Italy.

Preparing the market 

In his statement to the media, Dr. Slavko Sakoman, the biggest authority on narcotics in Croatia, said he had no knowledge of the new drug, despite the fact that he is constantly studying the illegal drug market.

Sakoman said that a report he received from the European drugs centre a few days ago has no mention of the new narcotic.

Also, Sakoman said, the media are exaggerating while pointing out what the drug looks like, since its make-up is much more important than the way it looks.

But there is a possibility that the information about a new candy on the streets is a marketing move for something that is yet to arrive on the market, says Sakoman.