Synthetic drug users dicing with death

People are putting their lives at risk using these products.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Matuku

People continuing to using synthetic drugs are increasingly putting their lives at risk, Taranaki police say.

Last week a 25-year-old man was found lying unresponsive in the grounds of a Waitara school and taken by ambulance to Taranaki Base Hospital. Earlier this month a 39-year-old man and 16-year-old female were admitted to the hospital’s ICU after using the drug, and in September two Waitara men came close to dying after smoking the substance.

Synthetic cannabinoid drugs caused a spate of deaths around the country in 2017 and a Waitemata District Health Board report warned there was no safe option for using synthetics.

One synthetic compound, AMBFubinaca, was thought to be 75 to100 times more powerful than natural THC, the primary chemical responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Matuku, Taranaki CIB, said the public needed to be aware of the dangers of the drugs.

‘‘It’s not uncommon for us to be called to an incident where there’s a suspected overdose or use of synthetic cannabis which results in the hospitalisation of people,’’ Matuku said.

‘‘As police, we are extremely concerned about the number of incidents that we in Taranaki are being called to, it seems to be a common theme across the country.’’

Matuku said the drugs took a mental and physical toll on users.

‘‘It’s clear that synthetic cannabis users are dicing with serious injury or death in some cases.

‘‘People are putting their lives at risk using these products.’’

He said police were working with other agencies, including Customs and the health board, to target people involved with the drug trade.

‘‘Taranaki police are focused on holding those who are manufacturing or supplying these drugs to account.’’

Sergeant Phil Quinn said the man who was taken to hospital last week was not able to communicate but did manage to walk to the ambulance with assistance. ‘‘It’s likely that it is some kind of synthetic cannabis.’’

The WDHB report stated synthetic drugs were now being produced in liquid form and smoked through e-cigarettes and vaporisers.

It showed the drugs were usually put into 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 drug (cannabinoids) is known to cause zombie-like symptoms and was found in batches seized by 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.