THE drug named as being linked to the Gold Coast mass overdose that led to seven school students being taken to hospital is a rare sedative used in Russia with “peculiar effects”.

While police are waiting on toxicology results to confirm the exact substance, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports the students took Phenibut, according to sources close to the tragedy.

The anti-anxiety medication is sold online and is believed to be commonly used in Russia, Latvia and the Ukraine as an anti-anxiety pill.

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Vice President of Queensland’s Australian Medical Association, Dr Jim Finn, told news.com.au that there are so few cases of Phenibut being used in Australia that hardly any health professionals even know about it.

“No doctors in Australia are familiar with this drug. There is no drug that is the same as Phenibut in the country,” he said.



“So we are really working with an unknown substance here in Australia.”

Phenibut is not available to purchase in Australia but it can still be bought online and mailed from overseas.

The substance is so rare in Australia that Dr Finn has only seen one case of it being used in the last three years.

He said the person purchased it online as a way to calm their nerves in a social situation but after taking it “vowed never to use it again” because of the serious “tranquilliser-like” effects it has.

There are reports of Phenibut being used overseas as a “smart pill” that is said to improve mental clarity, but Dr Finn says there is no evidence it can have such an effect.

“There isn’t any evidence that it can boost cognitive function,” he said.

“What this drug is more likely to do is make people believe that they are cognitively better, rather than actually doing so.”

Professor Michael Farrell of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre said while it’s unclear if Phenibut was the culprit, generally speaking the drug is not used in Australia.

“It’s like a tranquilliser effect primarily,” he said about the drug that is known as a sedative and can lead to nausea and dizziness.

“It’s not in pharmacopia of Australia to the best of my knowledge.”

“The unusual nature is for [the students] to be experiencing toxicity within the context of being in school.”

Detectives from the Gold Coast child protection unit are investigating the incident that saw seven children taken to hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

It is believed the students recorded video of their “Russian roulette” experience and posted it on Snapchat, The Courier-Mail reports.

Two crime scenes have been established at the school with police seizing mobile phones and electronic devices. Toxicology reports have been requested and are expected to take 24 hours.

Of the students taken to hospital two have been released and five are still receiving treatment, but are said to be “improving”, according to Gold Coast Health. Six of the teenagers were aged 15 and one aged 14.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Patrick Berry said all the students were conscious when they were taken to hospital.

“We’re still trying to ascertain toxicology results from what is possibly a substance they have ingested,” Mr Berry said.

Police are investigating how the drugs were obtained, with paramedics believing it could have been a “fantasy-type” drug purchased off the internet.

One older student told reporters he believed the grade 10 boys had overdosed on a fellow student’s antidepressant medication.

The families of all the boys have been contacted and several students are being spoken to by police.

“We are making inquiries as to whether they have been purchased on the internet,” Acting Inspector Tony Wormold said of the police investigation.

St Stephen’s Principal Jamie Dorrington said he would visit the students in hospital later on Wednesday.

“Our primary concern at the moment is to ensure their wellbeing, which I’m confident is being looked after,” Mr Dorrington said.

— With AAP