Synthetic cannabis kills 7 in past month
Police have issued a stark warning after the deaths of at least seven synthetic cannabis users in Auckland over the past month.
‘‘If we don’t do something about this, further people are going to die,’’ Detective Inspector Gary Lendrum said yesterday.
‘‘We’ve got reports of 13-yearolds right through to 64-year-olds using this product, so it’s right across New Zealand, and right across society.’’
Lendrum said synthetic cannabis had been a problem for some time, but there had been a sudden unexplained spike in recent months.
‘‘There is clear evidence that it’s being distributed by gangs. Where it’s being manufactured, and how, is less clear,’’ he said.
The deaths were confirmed yesterday and came with a further warning from Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall.
‘‘I’ve also been advised by St John that there have been a significant number of non-fatal cases where people have been hospitalised after using the drug, which is known to cause potentially fatal seizures,’’ she said.
‘‘While the police and coronial investigations are still at an early stage, and the final causes of death have yet to be established, the number of cases where synthetic cannabis appear to have been a contributing factor has prompted me to issue this public warning.’’
Synthetic cannabis can be much stronger than organic cannabis, and is an illegal substance in New Zealand.
Legal highs were permitted here until May 2014, when they were banned unless they could pass a strict testing regime show they were safe.
Synthetic cannabis use is relatively uncommon in New Zealand, with usage rates about onethird of the global average of 1.1 per cent, according to the latest Global Drug Survey.
Adverse effects most commonly reported from synthetic cannabis use were: trouble sleeping (29 per cent); vomiting/nausea (25 per cent); short temper/agitation (21 per cent); anxiety (21 per cent); strange thoughts (16 per cent); and heart palpitations (14 per cent).
St John ambulance and the Auckland District Health Board said in a joint statement they were seeing a ‘‘rapid rise’’ in patients suffering the effects of drugs thought to be synthetic cannabis in the Auckland area.
St John medical director Tony Smith said ambulance officers to had responded to 23 synthetic cannabis incidents on Thursday – an all-time high – and 20 on Wednesday.
Dr Margaret Wilsher, the chief medical officer for the Auckland DHB, said Auckland City Hospital had seen a rapid increase in patients who had used synthetic cannabis.
There had been 22 cases and one death at the hospital over the past five days.
Police said they were also concerned at the impact of synthetic cannabis in other communities in New Zealand.
‘‘This is not an issue unique to Auckland,’’ they said yesterday.
Dr Paul Quigley, emergency medicine specialist at Wellington Hospital, said it appeared illicit use of synthetic cannabis was becoming a particular problem for those from lower socioeconomic groups.
‘‘Synthetic cannabis is one of the more dangerous products around and is responsible for some immediate health harms,’’ he said. ‘‘Even a single smoke of synthetic is the equivalent of up to 15 normal joints.’’
Few, if any, synthetic cannabis users were seen at Wellington ED, but Hutt Valley Hospital saw users regularly, Quigley said.
As synthetic cannabis was so potent, doctors saw effects related to substance abuse and addiction developing rapidly, he said.
"We've got reports of 13-year-olds right through to 64-year-olds using this product." Detective Inspector Gary Lendrum