VULNERABILITY remains the biggest gateway to drug use in Fiji.
Justice permanent secretary Selina Kuruleca shared this during the national dialogue on the drug crisis in Fiji, saying young people are the brunt of this crisis and has described it as a full scale public health emergency.
Police figures show that between May 2024 and May 2025, 2400 drug-related cases were recorded.
Speaking on this, Ms Kuruleca said many of those cases involved young people between the ages of 18 and 35.
Of the total cases, more than 300 involved methamphetamine and federal-level matters, while 50 were jury cases.
At the same time, Fiji recorded a sharp rise in new HIV infections. In the first half of 2025 alone, 1226 new HIV cases were reported, a figure Ms Kuruleca described as “alarming” and one that continues to increase.
She said the link between drug use and broader social consequences could no longer be ignored.
“We cannot talk about drugs without talking about the other social issues, implications of drug use in our country,” she said.
“Whether we’re talking about economics, whether we’re talking about health or education, we need to talk about it in a very holistic manner.”
Ms Kuruleca stressed that illicit drugs were no longer a fringe criminal issue, but a crisis affecting multiple sectors.
She also described the situation as a child protection and justice emergency as well, arguing that when teenagers turn to methamphetamine, it reflects systemic failures.
“For every teenager who picks up meth, this tells us that the system has failed. The system has failed to protect them at school.
“It has failed at home. It has failed in our community and it has failed because we have all failed to deliver services.”
According to Ms Kuruleca, vulnerability among young people is at its highest level.
She cited unsafe homes, lack of supervision, trauma and violence, poverty and unemployment, the normalisation of drug use, and stigma that discourages people from seeking help as key contributing factors.
She said inconsistent delivery of social services had compounded the problem.
