Pubdate: Mon, 28 Apr 2014
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2014 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Isaac Davison

FAMILIES ELATED AT LEGAL-HIGHS BAN

Community relief, but Drug Foundation fears Government u-turn will
lead to blackmarket sales.

New Zealanders whose lives have been blighted by the dangers of legal
highs are thrilled by plans to pull them from sale within a fortnight
- - but fears have been raised users will stockpile the synthetic drugs
ahead of an increase in blackmarket activity.

The Government last night announced a policy u-turn, saying it would
ban all legal highs until they could be proven to be "low-risk".

The law change - to be introduced to Parliament under urgency next
week - spiked Labour's guns. It was poised to propose its own ban on
psychoactive substances amid increasing protests from local
communities to the harm legal highs caused.

"I'm just thankful something is finally happening," said Sherilyn
Tasker, whose 21-year-old son has suffered from the extreme effects of
synthetic cannabis use and spent time in a mental health ward. "The
ban finally allows him to get off it for good. As it has become
progressively harder to get a hold of, he has used it less and less.
I'm sure many other people are in the same situation," Ms Tasker said.

"There are a lot of parents out there ripping their hair out over this
and a lot of ignorant people unaware of the massively detrimental
effects of these products. I see it as far worse than alcohol and 
marijuana."

For one couple raising their grandchild, the news brought hope. "I am
glad," said Ray Hira. "Now we may have a chance to save our
16-year-old grandson, who has been on it for two years."

One South Auckland community is contemplating a neighbourhood
celebration of the law change.

Hunters Corner Town Centre Society chairman Pat Taylor said a store
that sold the substances attracted criminals and young people who were
begging or prostituting themselves to raise money for the drugs.

"It's very welcome news. We have a wonderful community in Hunters
Corner and we might have a celebration once the legal-high shop has
disappeared from our community."

More than 250 products were banned in August when the Psychoactive
Substances Act, promoted by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne,
came into force. But 41 products had temporary approval for sale until
the testing regime was introduced.

Mr Dunne said the remaining synthetic products will be stripped from
shelves until they can be assessed by a Ministry of Health-backed
testing regime. This meant all synthetic cannabis and party-pill
brands would be removed from the market "for some considerable time -
and some will never come back".

"I think that the reason we didn't include those 41 products initially
was that they hadn't been identified as problematic," said Mr Dunne.

"The public concern of recent weeks has led me to revisit that
question and I've been working on the legislation for some time now."

Labour leader David Cunliffe, who had planned to announce his party's
policy in Mangere this afternoon, welcomed the decision but called it
"an admission of failure" by the Government.

Mr Dunne said he had long planned an amendment but had not wanted to
reveal it until Parliament resumed because it could lead to
stockpiling and "panic-buying".

Policy announcements by Labour and New Zealand First had "forced his
hand", he said.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown said communities had made it clear that they
wanted immediate action, and the Government measures were "a strong
step forward".

The legal-highs industry, however, is in uproar, saying about 150
outlets nationally will be affected.

Shosha, which has three stores in the Auckland CBD and another in West
Auckland, said 60 per cent of its sales involved legal highs and
banning them could kill the business.

Drug Foundation chief Ross Bell said the Government's ban would have
negative consequences.

"We've been here before. Historically, what happens in these
situations - and I absolutely guarantee it will happen now - is that
there will be fire sales, people will stockpile, and the risk with
that is people might consume too much."

He also warned that products would make their way onto a criminal
blackmarket and the Government would have to manage people who had
become addicted to drugs that were no longer legally available.

Asked whether he was expecting protest from manufacturers, Mr Dunne
said: "I don't really have much of a view about their concerns. I'm
more concerned about getting the regime that we put in place last year
working effectively."

The ministry's testing regime is expected to be similar to
pharmaceutical drug trials. It could cost manufacturers more than $1
million to get a single product approved.

Synthetic copies much stronger than real thing

The legal highs to be banned by the law change are mainly synthetic
copies of cannabis, but they tend to be stronger than the real variety.

The Health Ministry website lists 42 psychoactive drugs, including the
brands Apocalypse, Amsterdam Havana Special and Jungle Juice, that
have interim approval. They gained that status under the legislation
passed by Parliament last year that aimed to ban the sale of legal
highs unless proven in clinical trials to pose no more than a "low
risk" of harm.

The psychoactive ingredients in some of the 42 products include
"AB-Fubinaca" and "CL-2201".

Toxicologist Dr Leo Schep, of the National Poisons Centre, said the
psychoactive chemicals in synthetic cannabis tended to bind more
effectively than the real thing to receptors in the brain, making them
much more potent drugs.

The drugs are associated with a range of potentially serious physical
and mental harms: rapid heart rate, agitation, seizures, psychosis,
hallucinations, acute kidney injury, heart attacks and strokes. Dr
Schep said: "What I've seen a lot recently, particularly in those who
want to get off it ... is nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal
pain. I've noticed in the last month or two severe and persistent
vomiting, to the point, sometimes, they are vomiting blood ... they
can't keep fluids down, they can't keep food down."

In the first three months of last year, one in every eight patients
admitted to Dunedin's acute psychiatric ward had been using the
synthetic cannabis K2.
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MAP posted-by: Matt