By Dave Goosselink
A new wave of herbal highs is creating problems around the country, despite legislation to ban them.
The Government has placed a temporary ban on 28 synthetic cannabis or party pill ingredients, but there are still many dubious products on the market.
One herbal high is K2 which is sold in dairies and party pill stores across the country. It encourages users to "have one toke and wait 10 minutes to feel the effects".
Southland truancy officer Lindsay Thomas is warning parents of the dangers of the synthetic pot.
“This K2 actually creates psychotic events for people. I've read literature that says it's 10 times more powerful than cannabis. But the kids don't know that.”
Empty packets of the blueberry and chocolate flavoured drugs have been found in local playgrounds. Head of the Invercargill Secondary Principals Group, Ian Baldwin, says it's a constant headache for schools.
“We are constantly managing that grey area between what is illegal, and what is legal but can be very damaging.”
He wants to see a Government campaign against synthetic drugs.
“We spend a lot of money telling people about the dangers of alcohol, and next to none telling them about the dangers of the wonders of chemistry,” Mr Baldwin says.
A total of 28 substances are currently banned for sale under temporary drug notices, and since bans were introduced a year ago, over 50 synthetic cannabis products have been taken off the market.
But it's up to members of the public to alert officials.
“You have to make a complaint to the Ministry of Health before anything's actioned, so they may not even know this is on the streets,” Mr Thomas says. “That's a big concern for us.”
New legislation putting the onus on manufacturers to prove substances are safe will be introduced to Parliament before Christmas, but any changes won't become law until the middle of next year.
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