A synthetic cannabis product is back on the market - and others are on the way - less than three months after the so-called "legal highs'' were banned.
Auckland-based Enjoi Products released a repackaged and modified version of its Amsterdam Cafe synthetic cannabis product to convenience stores across Auckland on Saturday.
The Long Island Tea blend has been slightly chemically altered from the company's former Havana Special product, which was affected by the Government's ban, which came into force in August.
But the new product, which sells for $20, has "quite a similar effect'' to the old one, Enjoi Products managing director Zaid Muso said.
"There's nothing to really hide here, it is a synthetic cannabinoid.''
Amsterdam Cafe brand was able to skirt around the ban by slightly altering its packing and one of the chemicals used in the blend, Mr Muso said.
Amsterdam Cafe had been distributed only to retailers which Enjoi Products deemed "responsible'' and the company had been careful not to advertise it, Mr Muso said.
"We're trying to keep it discreet as we can _ we've only given it to responsible retailers and haven't used posters or anything like that. All in the effort that kids don't get their hands on it.''
He said the company, which has developed synthetic cannabis products since 2006, "had a break'' after the ban before redeveloping Amsterdam Cafe.
Other companies were also gearing up to re-release modified synthetic cannabis products, Mr Muso said.
Matt Bowden, who imported the chemicals used to make Kronic, said the return of synthetic cannabis products was evidence that "prohibition doesn't work''.
Instead of banning the products as they were released, Mr Bowden said, the Government needed to regulate them. "It would have been better to have had them regulated so that they were safer instead of them coming out like this and it's unavoidable that they'll keep coming.
"These ones will probably be banned pretty quickly and then others will come _ that's the way its happened in the past and that's the way it will continue to happen.''
At the end of July, the Government passed the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill after a series of articles in the Herald about the dangers of the controversial product Kronic which was being sold in dairies.
The 12-month notice listed 16 synthetic cannabinoids as the equivalent of Class C1 drugs, which makes it illegal to manufacture, import, export, sell or supply those substances or products containing them.
All 43 synthetic cannabis products on the market at the time of the ban, including Amsterdam Cafe and Kronic, were taken off the shelves.
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne was not aware that Amsterdam Cafe had returned to shops.
But once alerted by the Herald, Mr Dunne said he would "urgently'' look into the product and whether it needed to be included in the ban.
"I have called for an urgent report from officials on this product, its content, scope, and availability to determine whether its deserves to be given a Temporary Drug Class Notice.
"I said when the Temporary Drug Class Notices came into force in August, that we would respond as required when attempts were made to change the odd ingredient and repackage products, that is why I am getting officials to report back to me quickly on this,'' Mr Dunne said.
A product can be taken off the shelves within a week once recognised and issued with a Temporary Drug Class Notice.
After the ban, Mr Muso said it was not the end of the legal high industry in New Zealand: "There's always ways around it; there are always loopholes.''
Dr Keith Bedford, general manager (forensic) at Environmental Science and Research (ESR) said it was inevitable that modified synthetic cannabis products were back on the market.
"There are many tens, if not hundreds, of these potential substances ... I think it was expected from the beginning that there were going to have to be other substances added to the banned list.''
The ban is an interim measure while the Government works on an overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Manufacturers will ultimately have to prove the safety of their products before they can be sold.
- Amelia Wade, The New Zealand Herald
