Ill-informed Kronic use is just chronic

KRONIC, a form of synthetic cannabis, is becoming a widespread problem among New Zealand youth.

Popular at parties, and even brought along to school, how can this social drug be having a positive effect on the lives of teenagers?

Although it may be fun at the time, many teens are using this drug carelessly and without any thought to the possible consequences.

Police are reporting a rise in drug-related crime, especially violence issues, and Auckland Hospital said it deals with at least two cases a day related to Kronic.

The immediate major health concern with this drug is the cardiovascular effects, including increasing heart rate and palpitations. There have even been reports of users having seizures.

However, much worse than this is the fact that we have no idea what the long-term effects will be. There has been a lot of research done into the health effects of cannabis but, with this synthetic form, we only know a limited amount about short-term and absolutely nothing about any long-term consequences. It has simply not been around long enough to be tested.

Scientists are becoming increasingly worried about the lack of information about these drugs, and we should be too.

The reason this drug is being treated with such carelessness is because it is LEGAL.

There we go, those five little letters. When you hear something is legal, what is the first thing that crosses your mind? That it is dangerous? Untrialled and untested?

Of course not. You assume it is safe. Kronic is neither trialled nor tested, and yet the New Zealand Government sees fit to have it sold in dairies in the centre of our communities.

Kronic needs to be made illegal, and fast. It has similar effects to other, illegal, drugs and while some say this problem is not dissimilar to our youth drinking problem, we are fully educated and hopefully aware of the long-term effects of alcohol.

At both intermediate and secondary school we are bombarded with information about drinking and its widespread social, medical, and physical consequences. However, we have not been informed about synthetic cannabis and the threat it poses, because nobody knows.

As long as it is legal, dairies will continue to sell it, even if some customers do not believe that it is morally right to be marketing drugs to the community.

It will continue because, in the end, a dairy is a business just like any other - profit is key.

Do we already equate popping down to the dairy to buy some Kronic to buying a packet of cigarettes? The Government needs to put an urgent stop to the sale of any untrialled, untested synthetic drugs to anyone of any age - fast, before it is too late.

Claudia Brick, Year 11, Takapuna Grammar School