Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced at the weekend that legislation would be introduced to ban all synthetic drugs within a fortnight until they could be proven to be low risk.
''Public pressure from you guys made all this happen,'' Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper told more 140 people who attended the Alexandra meeting.
Harm caused by the products was outlined during the evening along with help available for addicts and feedback on developing a local approved products policy (Lapp) was canvassed.
Under the Psychoactive Substances Act, passed last year, local authorities can draft such a policy, which is taken into consideration when the Ministry of Health decides on licences in the future for retailers of psychoactive substances, if any are proven to be low risk.
Exclusion zones from ''sensitive sites'' such as schools and community facilities form part of the policy.
Those at last night's meeting listed an extensive range of such sites, from playgrounds and parks to schools, churches, fast food outlets and alcohol outlets, and decided no retailer of psychoactive substances should be allowed within 500m of any of those places.
''We want to make this as hard as we can for them,'' Mr Lepper said.
''From that list, there's nowhere in Central Otago that they can go, in the retail area ... We can't ban the substance, and this policy might land us in court, but it'll be me that's fronting up in court.''
A draft Lapp will be advertised for public submissions by the Central Otago District Council within two or three months.
Drug and alcohol counsellor Malcolm Creagh, of Alexandra, who works with young people aged from 14-20, said in the past two years, psychoactive substances had become the main reason why people sought counselling with him.
''They're an unethical, immoral product that causes harm to young people and their families and older people as well,'' he said.
Central Otago police sub-area supervisor Senior Sergeant Ian Karroos said police would continue to make sure the sole retailer of synthetic drugs in the district abided by the law.
