Ex synthetics dealer: I feel karma will get me
At least 20 people have died this year after taking synthetic drugs. Today a former addict and dealer speaks out about why she took the nasty substances — and how she endangered her community to satisfy her extreme cravings. And we hear from a father who
When the synthetic drug craze started Emma* hated everything about it. She was “very anti” the drug and vowed never to use it.
And then, almost in the blink of an eye, she was using up to an ounce a day with her partner and running a “synnies shop” from their family home to fund their $1000-a-week habit.
“The first time I tried it I didn’t actually like it,” she said.
“I completely freaked out, I had no control over my body, it was scary.
“But after a couple of times I learned to handle it.”
Emma is not the woman’s real name. The Herald has agreed not to name her to protect her children.
“I wasn’t aware when the addiction actually started, but once I started it was really, really difficult to stop.”
When she used synthetics she felt “euphoric”, like she could do anything.
She’d been a casual cannabis user over the years and liked the “kicked back” feeling she got when she smoked a joint.
But synthetics gave her a different buzz.
“It’s hard to explain . . . I was quite active, it gave me a lot of energy.
“But when I was using them I was completely aware of everything I was doing, even if I couldn’t control it.”
She would get grumpy and irritable when she needed a hit and sometimes drove around five or six sellers within a 20-minute period to buy her drugs.
“If I didn’t have it, it would trigger my aggressive side,” she said.
“I didn’t go out beating people up, but I got really agitated.”
The woman and her partner were both addicted synnies, as they are known by users, and were spending up to $1000 a week on their habit — going through about an ounce of the substances each day.
She managed to keep up work, caring for her children and no one outside her home was any the wiser.
To ensure they could keep up the payments for their drugs, the couple started selling synthetics.
“We had to find some way of paying for this addiction,” she said.
“But we didn’t think of it as an addiction at the time.”
She said there were always plenty of people ready to buy, and the money was easy.
“In a month we went from scoring it to running a full-on shop, 24 hours, seven days a week.
“We were never worried about getting caught, and if we did, we had a backup plan so that we could be back selling from another location within hours.”
She said that’s how most dealers operated, so when police did busts and arrests, it wasn’t making a huge difference. They purchased the drugs by the pound from “a source” who would import powder and chemicals and mix them with damiana leaf.
Damiana is a Mexican shrub that can also be smoked for a euphoric effect, or consumed as a tea for relaxation. It is legal in New Zealand. The chemicals added to the leaves in New Zealand include AMB-Fubinaca — a very potent substance that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain, resulting in a cataleptic or seizure-like state.
“We never made the mixes but if clients said it was too strong we would add more damiana.”
The last time she used was “petrifying”.
The woman and her partner went away for a weekend and had “a session” in their hotel room.
“We were having cones and I was literally paralysed for half an hour — I couldn’t move, I didn’t feel like my feet were touching the ground.
“It absolutely freaked me out and that was it for me.”
She went cold turkey, too scared to feed her addiction any longer, and has not used since.
It took her partner another eight months before he was ready to quit. That was agonising for the woman. “He still believed it was controllable . . . but he was nearly having heart attacks and so many times people would call me, they thought he was going to die.
“I couldn’t go to sleep at night because I didn’t know if he was going to die . . . it was [devastating] to sit and watch him literally sit there every day in the kitchen just getting high.
“He couldn’t cook, he couldn’t clean, he couldn’t do anything — all of his focus was on bagging up the product and getting it out on the streets, and getting high.
“In the end I gave him an ultimatum between our family and the addiction.”
The woman has now been clean for two years, but lives every day with the horrendous guilt of having sold the muck to others.
“I believe karma is going to . . . get me for the dangerous stuff I put into my community,” she said.
She now puts her energy into helping people and does as much community work as possible to make up for her past.
She wanted other addicts to learn from her story.
“I lost part of myself when I was an addict,” she said.
“You really need to look in the
mirror and listen to the people trying to support and help you.
“They are not hating on you, they all want what is best for you — they love you and it’s not that they don’t want you to have fun, they just want you around to live your life.”
Chief Coroner — each case is a tragedy
A dramatic spike in synthetic cannabis-related deaths in Auckland prompted a public warning from Chief Coroner Deborah Marshall.
In July she issued a public safety warning after seven deaths thought to be related to synthetic drugs were referred to her.
Last week she revealed that number had rocketed to at least 20.
“Each case is a tragedy for the family and friends of those left behind,” Judge Marshall said.
“While many deaths have occurred in Auckland, a number of cases in other parts of New Zealand have also been reported to Coronial Services.
“Using any illicit drug carries risks, and in the case of synthetic drugs, they are known to cause potentially fatal seizures.
“I urge anyone considering using this drug not to do so, and for those who are, to reach out to services that might assist them.”
Police are also pleading for the community to help them stop the flow of the drugs.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard called on anyone with information about manufacturers or dealers to contact police immediately.
“We need your help to catch these offenders,” he said.
“It is a dangerous drug that we know is a synthetic compound usually manufactured overseas.
“Those taking it are taking a huge risk because you do not know where it has come from, or the level of dosage.”
We were never worried about getting caught, and if we did, we had a backup plan so that we could be back selling from another location within hours. Emma, former addict and dealer