A long-term cannabis user who switched to the synthetic variety ended up in a psychiatric unit.
The 56-year-old grandfather, who never drinks alcohol but has smoked pot since he was a teenager, quit his cannabis habit late last year.
Weeks later, following a recommendation from a friend, he began smoking the synthetic cannabinoid "Illusion".
"My husband is the most positive, caring, soft-natured person you could ever come across. But, after taking this, everything became negative and that was so unlike him," his wife, who declined to be named, said.
He got up one morning in March and "he was crazy", she said.
That morning, her husband went to make her a coffee, as he had done for the previous decade, but this time put sugar in it.
When she told him she did not take sugar, he made another coffee with more sugar, and repeated it a third time.
"That must have been the precursor. He just went crazy and rambling, and his eyes went really dark."
That night he was taken to the psychiatric unit, where he stayed for two weeks.
She said her husband accepted he had a problem and, despite initial reluctance, began taking sedation medication. Late last month, he moved to a reduced dose.
"Ironically, the experience with the synthetic stuff has helped him stay off cannabis."
No longer smoking cannabis or synthetic cannabis, he had recovered well and had the support of family and friends, she said.
"I tell anyone who is listening, if you use this stuff you might go crazy," she said.
