The use of a black-market drug in the Auckland area that has caused deaths overseas has sparked a warning from Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne.
Mr Dunne said tests on the psychoactive substance by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) suggested it may be MDMB-CHMICA, previously unknown in New Zealand.
The synthetic cannabinoid - which is usually smoked - has been responsible for reported serious adverse reactions overseas, Mr Dunne said.
"This substance has contributed to, or been directly responsible for, at least six deaths in Europe and I am extremely concerned to hear that it has made its way to New Zealand.
"It is precisely this sort of situation that a regulated market under the Psychoactive Substances Act was designed to avoid."