Asking for the synthetic drugs was met with some disdainful looks from dairy owners, but others seemed nonplussed.
One dairy owner told me quite seriously: "We don't sell that sort of thing."
Of all nine dairies I visited, from Lansdowne to Solway, none had any synthetic cannabis for sale.
A sensible idea, as dairy owners who are found to be selling legal highs can be landed with a fine of up to $50,000 and two years imprisonment.
Synthetic cannabis is not completely illegal - specialty shops can get a licence to sell highs that have been approved by the Government.
The new law requires the drug manufacturer to certify that the drug has been on the market for more than 3 months and no harm has been reported.
Masterton Police Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said the fact that the dairies were complying was pleasing. "That's what we would expect."
Senior Sergeant Carolyn Watson had previously told the Times-Age that kids were using the products because of easy accessibility and legality.
"The main reason they said for smoking it was that they could buy it from a dairy."
Nicky Poona, Wairarapa Smokefree Enforcement Officer at the Wairarapa DHB, said she hadn't had any reports of illegal sales.
Together with the police, she has previously carried out undercover operations to catch out retailers selling cigarettes or legal highs to people under 18.
She said the Times-Age sting was a great result.
"That's exactly what we are wanting to see."
Making it less accessible to young people kept them safe from harm, she said.
Harmful effects reported include agitation and paranoia through to psychosis, kidney damage, limb loss and even death.
The Psychoactive Substances Bill sets up a legal framework for the testing, manufacture, sale and regulation of synthetic drugs in NZ.
Regulating synthetic drugs was the first step in the right direction for healthy drug law, said Ross Bell, executive director of the NZ Drug Foundation.
