The number of people seeking help to quit synthetic cannabis has soared and is expected to rise further next month.

Makers of synthetic drugs predict the Government's "surprise" ban on their products will force 80 shops to close their doors and 200 staff to lose jobs.

PM John Key says leaving some synthetic drugs on the market was “a mistake” and Government should have banned all products until a rigorous testing regime was in place.

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.

It is still hard to believe New Zealand legalised cannabis last July. The Psychoactive Substances Act applies only to chemical creations of the drug but these are said to be more potent than the plant.

The sale of legal highs could be effectively banned in Rotorua from June 5.

Just one in 100 beneficiaries who had pre-employment drug tests under a new government policy showed any sign of drug abuse.

A ban on legal highs is not possible because the chemical composition of synthetic cannabis keeps changing, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says.

New Zealanders have been let down by a "wimpish'' Government over its refusal to ban psychoactive substances, Napier Mayor Bill Dalton says.

A transgender Oamaru woman has been ordered to serve a jail sentence in a men's prison, despite a request for home detention.

A Palmerston North student who imported drugs he ordered online has been jailed for four years and 10 months.

A mother who described herself as a "hermit" until a year ago is the central figure in a grassroots nationwide protest against synthetic cannabis

An explosion in a city-fringe Auckland suburb has terrified residents and alerted police to a suspected P-lab this morning.

Kronic, K2, Thai Hi, Giggle, Spice, Dream, Illusion, Ziggy ... are all names of the poison that stole my son, a poison that our government allows to be sold and to destroy lives.

Fewer workers are being caught on drugs, despite workplace testing becoming more prevalent, latest figures show.

Government regulators have agreed to shut down Hamilton's six "legal high" synthetic drug shops.

Four men had to be restrained at a party in Christchurch after taking a new and dangerous drug with the nickname N-Bomb.

Four people appeared in court today facing charges related to a P lab that was discovered in a central Wellington apartment early today.

Armed police stumbled onto a P lab in an upmarket Wellington apartment while executing a search warrant just metres from their district headquarters this morning.

An Indonesian official has said Schapelle Corby tried to kill herself when he informed her that the government might send her back to prison.

Indonesia's justice minister says he may revoke Schapelle Corby's parole after watching an Australian documentary about her release from jail.

An emotional Mercedes Corby says she had to feed, medicate and bathe her sister during her time behind bars in Bali.

Australians have heard Schapelle Corby's first words since she was released from jail, after they were captured on camera as she exited a Bali prison.

Australian Federal Police have defended their raid on Seven Network offices and say they found enough to continue investigating plans.

Lorraine Cohen knows about drugs. She knows about trying to get clean, then getting dragged back in again.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's recent death from a suspected heroin overdose unleashed the usual media coverage of deaths related to this drug.

Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby could be a free woman later this afternoon.