Synthetic drug use plunges after ban

Synthetic drug use is down in Northland.

Only one case of synthetic cannabis use in Northland has been discovered since a ban on psychoactive substances came into effect last year.

The National Poisons Centre in Dunedin received 11 complaints on the use of synthetic cannabis throughout the country from June 2014 to April this year, including one from Whangarei.

The sale of psychoactive substances such as party pills and synthetic cannabis was made illegal on May 8 last year following amendments to the Government's Psychoactive Substances Act.

Leo Schep, a toxicologist at the National Poisons Centre, said it was pleasing to see the number of calls regarding use of psychoactive substances on the way down since the ban was introduced, but believed there was a little bit of a black market in existence.

"At one stage before the ban we were getting 70 calls a month from all over the country ... it was getting crazy but the numbers just dropped down," he said.

Dr Schep said the National Poisons Centre received calls from a number of people such as mothers concerned about their children's behaviour, police officers dealing with violent offenders, or ambulance officers attending to people who are high on drugs.

The Whangarei District Council last year adopted a policy to restrict where legal highs could be sold in the city which was superseded by the Psychoactive Substances Act.

Owen Thomas, manager community services, said there would have been fewer substances covered under the Act circulating in the community, although the council was not collecting any information on the illegal use.

"Anecdotally, we have noticed less of the disruptive behaviour around town that was associated with these substances in the past," he said.

Far North prevention manager for police Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan said his officers have not heard reports of people using psychoactive substances since the ban came into effect.

Police had also not seen an emergence of a black market for party pills and synthetic cannabis in the Far North.

"We had concerns about it [psychoactive substances] from the start in terms of how it's made and its implications on society,' he said.

"We've also had a lot of community support and a significant amount of information has come through from people who are concerned about its use."