Synthetics caused drug death
Lunchtime shoppers at some of the high-end outlets on lower Queen St were the first to notice the terrible consequences of one man’s synthetics-smoking habit.
On August 4, 2018, they watched Oliver Dwayne Johnathon Manukau collapse and die.
A Coroner’s report found Manukau, 41, of no fixed abode, died after consuming synthetic cannabis.
He collapsed on the footpath outside 87 Queen St, across the road from the Pandora jewellery store and just metres from a Gucci outlet.
Despite help from the public, and the intervention of a team from an ambulance, he could not be revived.
The brief coroner’s report notes that, as well as having synthetic cannabis in his blood, Manukau had “an enlarged heart with severe triplevessel coronary artery disease and thickening of its wall due to high blood pressure”.
Forensic pathologist Dr Kilak Kesha conducted a post-mortem examination and concluded the direct cause of death was the synthetic cannabinoid AMB-Fubinaca, and that Manukau’s heart condition also contributed to his death.
“With regards to AMB-Fubinaca, Dr Kesha commented that it is reported to have an effect that is 75 times stronger than THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the psychoactive compound found in cannabis,” Coroner Erin Woolley said.
“Dr Kesha also noted the majority of testing of synthetic cannabis submitted in New Zealand found the dangerous chemical AMB-Fubinaca to be present, and there was a cluster of AMB-Fubinaca related deaths reported in the middle of 2017.” A study published in August found the chemical was listed as the primary or contributory cause of death in 95 per cent of the 58 deaths from synthetic cannabis that occurred in Auckland from mid-2017 to February 2019.
The vast majority of the victims (88 per cent) were male, with a mean age of 42.
However, the Government reclassified the substance as a Class A drug, giving the police greater powers to search and seize it, and there was also a crackdown in China, where most of the substance was manufactured.
In September, ESR scientists reported “a complete absence” of AMBFubinaca in recent synthetic cannabis seizures in New Zealand. But two weeks later it was detected again in three drug seizures in Northland, the Bay of Plenty and Christchurch.
Woolley repeated recommendations made by Coroner Gordon Matenga after another 2018 death that New Zealand needed “an allencompassing harm reduction approach which reduces demand, supply and easy access to treatment for those seeking assistance” for synthetic cannabis.