Synthetic cannabis: a potentially fatal gamble
The death of a 25-year-old man from synthetic cannabis has been ruled accidental, but prompted warnings for other users and those around them.
Dylan Alan James HotterMatehe was found by a family friend on March 8, 2018, lying unresponsive on the floor at his friend’s house in Aranui, Christchurch. Ambulance staff called out just after midnight confirmed he had died. In a ruling, coroner Anna Tutton said an autopsy showed Hotter-Matehe’s heart was enlarged due to a thickening in the wall of one of its main chambers, and his lungs had partially filled with fluid.A dangerous synthetic cannabinoid, 5F-ADB – reported in a number of inquests since mid2017 – was found in his system.
Described as a happy-go-lucky person and a big friendly giant, Tutton ruled there was no indication that Hotter-Matehe had intended to end his life.
His mother, Rawinia Matehe, said her son began taking synthetic cannabis about four years before his death, and it was ‘‘really bad’’. He had stopped using it for a time but started again four or five months before his death, during which time she had noticed his health deteriorating.
He was sweating a lot, and in the week before he died had developed a rattle in his breathing.
His mother suggested he see a doctor, but he would not listen. He even told her he did not care if it killed him. Less than two weeks from the third anniversary of her son’s death, Matehe is warning anyone that will listen about the dangers of the drug – and wishing his friends had listened back then.
‘‘I kept telling them not to give it to him, but it made no difference.
‘‘They are still doing it themselves, they can’t help it – even though they lost their mate.’’
Had one of his friends been straight or sober on the night, they may have noticed her son was in trouble, she said. ‘‘They just don’t think it’s going to happen to them.
‘‘People need to care about this
– friends, families. They all need to know.’’ Matehe said people were quick to judge parents after such tragedies, but pointed out her son was a grown man.
‘‘It can happen at any age, and when it does it’s just so addictive, it’s impossible for them to stop.’’
In light of Hotter-Matehe’s death, Tutton repeated and adopted the recommendations made by Coroner Matenga in 2018, following the 2017 death of 49-yearold Taupo man Andrew McAllister. Matenga referenced toxicologist and medicine specialist Dr Paul Quigley, who said it was common for synthetic cannabis users to collapse.
It was so common, he said, that other people present did not always appreciate that the person was losing blood flow to their brain, resulting in death.
In order to prevent future deaths from synthetic cannabinoids, Quigley suggested the development of an allencompassing harm reduction approach to cut supply and demand of the drug and to offer easy access to treatment.
Tutton said she endorsed this advice, and reiterated the dangers of synthetic cannabis use and the need to get help immediately if a user collapses or becomes unresponsive. Her ruling outlined the dangers of using synthetic cannabis, including the unknown nature of the drug’s contents.