'Legal highs' back on shelves

A Kaitaia man has accused a main street business operator of breaking his word over the continued sale of 'legal highs.'

Reti Boynton, who led a very vocal protest through the street last year, and berated Raymond Jujnovich from outside tobacconist Jujnovich Holdings Ltd for selling the drugs, said an associate had bought a $20 packet of 'Illusion' there last week, despite an assurance from Mr Jujnovich at the time of the protest that he would cease stocking that type of product.

Mr Jujnovich conceded yesterday that he had given that assurance, but he had subsequently considered the law, and had resumed. He had acquired an interim licence to sell the drugs and had applied for a permanent one, although he did not know if he would be successful.

"He [Mr Boynton] does what he does and I'm operating according to the law," he said.

He was not selling any of the five substances (AK47, Anarchy, Karma, Northern Lights Primo and Voodoo) that were urgently withdrawn from legal sale earlier this week, in response to reports of serious side effects.

Mr Boynton accused Mr Jujnovich of misleading Kaitaia, however, and believed the community had the right to know that.

"This is a major concern for our community. This dangerous product should be under lock and key [it had been produced from a box under the counter], as they do with cigarettes," he said.

"This product is 20 times worse than marijuana. It should be compared more with methamphetamine. Its effects are the same as methamphetamine's. This product is ruining lives and families, especially the lives of our rangatahi, our future."

Mr Boynton wasn't sure what action would be taken now, but he vowed to continue applying pressure. There would never be a shortage of mystery shoppers to establish whether the products were still being sold, while Mr Jujnovich's credibility was "shot".

"He says one thing when we protest and he does another," he said.

He was also concerned that users had no idea of the chemicals they were putting into their bodies. The products were made by repeatedly spraying and drying the material that delivered the 'high', which was increasingly leading to bizarre behaviour, including violence.

The government wasn't blameless either, Mr Boynton saying it was more concerned about tax revenue than the drugs' effects on users, their families and communities.

Mr Jujnovich said he wasn't selling a lot of the product, and some customers had stopped using it.