Synthetic cannabis

A recent spike in synthetic cannabis use has led a Dunedin toxicologist to warn that what is known about available legal high products "concerns us".

While the legal high industry faces a shake-up after the announcement of hefty fees and testing costs, the potential rewards may still entice those wanting a slice of the multimillion-dollar industry.

The saying "there's no smoke without fire" increasingly appears to be the case in relation to the synthetic cannabis product K2. In the past 10 days, several people who have used the product (which mimics the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive constituent of the cannabis plant) have voiced concerns over it following frightening experiences.

Results of testing to determine whether the synthetic cannabis product K2 should be banned might still be a few weeks away, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said yesterday.

Concern is growing concern about the effects of a new synthetic cannabis product called K2, and Dunedin police say the behavioural problems caused by the drug are worse than those of marijuana.

Rising use of synthetic cannabis is having a "significant impact" in mental-health wards and is partly to blame for increasing assaults on staff, Otago mental-health nursing director Heather Casey says.

A crime spree by a Dunedin teenager was sparked by his synthetic cannabis habit, police say.

A synthetic cannabis product recently available in Dunedin, about which local police had expressed concern, is to be banned, Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne announced yesterday.

All synthetic cannabis products including Kronic will have to be taken off shelves by Wednesday next week after the first ban under amended drug legislation was issued today.

A legislative clampdown on synthetic cannabis products is just weeks away, associate health minister Peter Dunne says.