Matt Bowden on being lord of legal highs

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Sun, 10 Jul 2011 8:30p.m.

Matt Bowden

Matt Bowden

Meet Matt Bowden, the man behind Kronic, the synthetic cannabis now on sale in New Zealand dairies. How does he do it, how much money does he make out of it, and why can’t he be stopped?

He used to be called the Godfather of the legal highs industry. That was 10 years ago, when he introduced New Zealand to BZP, a party pill.

But after a cluster of competitors squeezing his business, a Government decision to ban BZP, and the suicide of a close friend and fellow party pill entrepreneur, Bowden bowed out of the party pill business. Until now.

Once again New Zealand is in the grips of a debate over a legal high, this time it is a synthetic cannabis brand, Kronic – and once again, Matt Bowden is the public face of the new drugs.

 

60 Minutes reporter Kim Chisnall talks to the man himself and discovers there is more to him than you might imagine. He’s an ex-addict turned dealer who paints himself as a sensible advocate for drug control. He’s a rich and flamboyant socialite who loves to dress up and play the rock star, yet Government scientists appear to take his advice on law reform.

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Comments

14 Nov 2011 01:18a.m.

Gail wrote:

To seriously think that you are doing drug users a favour by developing "legal" mind altering substances is laughable in the extreme. I suggest that at the best your motives are not as pure as you state them to be. People have died using YOUR synthetic substitute "Kronic", however you want to dress it up, you have blood on your hands. Perhaps it might take the involvement of either your two children in this so called "safe" alternative for you to really face the monster that you so readily defend.

13 Nov 2011 11:57p.m.

Tubby Tockley wrote:

@Alien - I liked his wife. She had great tits.

13 Nov 2011 11:18p.m.

jess wrote:

Matt Bowden, you jumped up wank. You destroy peoples lives. I hope they find a way to lock you up and throw away the key. As for your wife... Well. You sort make me sad. You destroy families.

10 Aug 2011 05:10a.m.

Grindalf wrote:

@Steve If you want to know why Cannabis is illegal, go watch The Truth about Marijuana on Youtube. It basically comes down to racism, prejudice, misinformation, big business, political manipulation and money....all the good stuff. Caffiene is regarded as a generally safe drug (go look it up on the wiki) and alcohol is a toxic substance that is thought to generally have a safe dose for alot of people. This safe dose for alcohol is practically meaningless in regards to how alcohol is actually consumed in reality, and given that alcohol kills things such as microrganisms, is probably a fallacy anyway. In my opionion, society has been had by one of the biggest cons in human history. The War on Drugs is a joke and a failure. The saddest part is that prohibition of cannabis has actually hurt you guys alot more than it has hurt me (as a user), unlike the effects of Alcohol Prohibition on alcohol users in the Untied States in the 1920's.

14 Jul 2011 04:40a.m.

dan janssen wrote:

dude!.. oooh dude, you and the mrs have fully flipped a lid.. lay off the chronic.. seriously??? mannnnn up pillease.

13 Jul 2011 04:44p.m.

Baker wrote:

This man does not look like someone I would trust...EVER! Look at him he looks like he's still an addict and he's even wearing eye liner like a girl. I'll stick to the stuff grown in soil not made in a lab like Kronic & P

12 Jul 2011 09:35a.m.

Visionarytoo wrote:

Matt Bowden is a visionary, addict, artist and wanna be healer. Unfortunately he's working for the wrong side. You chose to do good or bad, and everyone knows right from wrong. Not one of his attributes, are being used for the betterment of mankind, as he believes. He has opened himself up ( by his past drug use ) to the darkside of life, sold his soul in the process and sadly is being duped by his own mind. Wake up and use your gifts for good... and find a good exorcist to help you. Think he's already chosen his Master though...dirty money.

11 Jul 2011 06:02p.m.

bernard wrote:

nothing wrong with drugs ? matt go and have a look in the mirror take a look at what you look like mate .

11 Jul 2011 01:31p.m.

Simon wrote:

The truth behind all the noise, is simply that he is selling experimental research chemicals to the public for a massive profit, thus treating the public with less respect than lab rats... Matthew Wielenga owns Lightyears anyway (search it on the comp. reg website), they make the most cash from the whole opp than bowden, who just imports and dumps kgs of the research chemicals from China, which obviously dumped a heap of benzos to make up weight in an order. Nice and dodgy. No quality control process clearly, who knows what else may have been in earlier batches two or three months ago...

11 Jul 2011 12:00p.m.

Jenna wrote:

well sure you can condem kronic as the trigger that will push kids towards other drugs... but 10 years ago when none of this was around kids were still getting high, there were no other safe alternatives for them so they had to break the law. And take a look at how many compounds and chemicals are found in cigarettes, or how many deaths alcohol causes every year. I dont hear the masses calling for banning either of those. maybe we should be focusing on far more damaging substances out there.