Mr Wright St-Clair said in the past two weeks police had visited the eight local licensed retailers to remind them about the regulations, discuss the likely impacts of the ban, and to ensure they had good security in place to protect themselves from a burglary or robbery.
Police would be revisiting every store within 24 hours of the ban to ensure they have removed the products from their shelves and returned stocks to manufacturers and wholesalers, he said.
Some Bay retailers and customers told the Bay of Plenty Times they believed the crime rate would soar as soon as synthetic drugs were banned as users returned to their old habits of using alcohol, cannabis tinnies or other illicit drugs.
Fears that banning all synthetic drugs would create a black market were already coming true, Special T Discounter owner Mike Lawrence said. He had received "blackmarket" offers to buy his remaining stock and also knew of people gearing up to illegally manufacture the products. He knew of at least one local retailer which had not cut its prices to sell its remaining stock. "Price fixing is illegal," he said.
Mr Lawrence said to stop people stockpiling he had limited customers' sales to five packs a day.
He was calling for more treatment for addicts and their families.
"I've had one female customer who was a victim of domestic violence when her partner drank absolutely freaking out. She is so worried about what is going to happen when he can no longer buy his legal highs and goes back to alcohol."
Adult World owner Kevin Stephens said he is also convinced that a total ban would drive some people back to using cannabis or alcohol.
Both men had been handing out health advice flyers to their customers.
Special T Discounter customer Asher Wallace, 36, said the problem was created because the Government had allowed synthetic cannabis to be sold on the market unregulated for so long, plus a small number of users had been abusing the products.
