The Ministry of Health ignored advice from police and Customs that legislation to ban synthetic cannabis products was incomplete and could lead to the re-emergence of near-identical legal highs.
It was revealed this week that a new legal version of Amsterdam Cafe, a synthetic cannabis product, had gone on sale on Saturday.
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne on Tuesday said three new synthetic cannabinoids - the chemicals used to produce products such as Kronic - had been banned.
Packages of all three were intercepted at the border by Customs. One of them was destined for Enjoi Products, manufacturer of Amsterdam Cafe.
Mr Dunne said Ministry of Health officials had made contact with Enjoi Products to determine if the intercepted cannabinoids were used in the new version of the Amsterdam Cafe product.
If they were, the product could be off shelves by next week, otherwise tests would be carried out to determine its contents, Mr Dunne said.
Correspondence released to The New Zealand Herald under the Official Information Act revealed police and Customs warned ministry policy-makers that proposed bans on "legal highs" needed strengthening.
In a letter dated July 29, Police Minister Judith Collins urged Mr Dunne to note the police's desire that analogues (molecules only slightly structurally different) of banned cannabinoids be included in the ban.
Mr Dunne listed 16 synthetic cannabinoids as the equivalent of Class C1 drugs for a 12-month period at the beginning of August, making their sale or supply illegal.
Manufacturers warned new products would quickly emerge because there were thousands of different synthetic cannabinoid molecules for them to choose from to get around specific bans.
Custom's border protection and enforcement official David Negri wrote to the ministry on July 29 asking for analogue provisions to be included in legislation.
