Synthetic drugs now in liquid form, and carrying more risk

Synthetic drugs are being produced in liquid form and smoked through e-cigarettes and vaporisers, a new report shows.

And experts say ingesting the drug as a liquid increases the chance of risk.

Drug Foundation spokesman Samuel Andrews said the products were often imported as a powder, then made into a liquid which was usually put on a leaf to smoke.

‘‘When it’s a liquid it’s a lot harder to tell how strong the batch will be.’’

Synthetic cannabinoid drugs caused a spate of deaths in 2017 and authorities have struggled to cope with the impact they have had in the community.

The Waitemata District Health Board report showed the drugs were usually in two categories – synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic stimulants – based on the chemical compound.

The cannabinoids contain chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, which is found in cannabis, and the stimulants mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine.

Users of the drug usually smoke it like a cannabis cigarette, but those using it in liquid form could go undetected by smoking through an e-cigarette device.

The report warned there was no safe option for using synthetics – one synthetic compound, AMBFubinaca, was thought to be 75-100 times more powerful than natural THC.

The drug is known to cause zombie-like symptoms and was found in batches authorities in 2017.

The short lifespan of synthetic substances meant they were easier to become addicted to, as users found they needed to take more and more to get the same effect.

But Andrews said there were some measures that could be taken to minimise risk.

‘‘Using a small amount, not trusting it’s the same product as seized by they used last time and making sure there’s someone with them are ways of keeping safe.’’

He also recommended health professionals referred drug users to social services if they were hospitalised after an overdose.

Andrews said the foundation had been shocked by the number of deaths in 2017 and believed there could be more unless the response to synthetics changed.