Synthetic drug easy for kids to buy

Jazz Kerdar, 15, says she was not asked for identification when buying Kronic at Khyber Pass News Agency and was even asked if she wanted a larger packet. Photo / Greg Bowker

Children are able to buy synthetic cannabis from many corner dairies around the country and in some cases it is "as easy as buying chewing gum".

The products are laced with chemicals which mimic cannabis, have not been fully clinically tested on humans, and are often much stronger than the real thing.

Detective Inspector Stuart Mills of the National Drug Intelligence Bureau said age restrictions on the synthetic cannabis products - stocked in many dairies - were clearly not working.

"Ease of purchase is occurring nationwide. It's as easy as buying your chewing gum."

A parent complained to the Herald that one stockist, the Khyber Pass News Agency near Newmarket's Broadway, has sold "Kronic" synthetic cannabis to minors.

Kronic and other similar products contain vegetable matter treated with synthetic cannabinoid chemicals to produce effects similar to cannabis when smoked. They come with a strict R18 warning and, under the Smoke-Free Environments Act 1990, cannot be sold to minors.

The Herald asked 15-year-old Jazz Kerdar, a child actress, to buy a $20 1.25g packet of Kronic "Tropical Explosion" from the store.

She said she was not asked for identification by the shop attendant. "It was like buying an icecream."

Jazz said the attendant even tried to sell her a larger packet of Kronic. She handed the product to the Herald.

Yesterday, owner David Chen - who did not serve Jazz - said he was surprised by the transaction as the shop's policy was to always ask for identification if anybody looked under 18.

But the parent, whose child attends a nearby school, said it was no secret students bought Kronic from the store.

"It's gobsmacking. It's just the fact this shop is so close to three schools, and for a mind-altering substance they are so blatant about their display."

St Peter's College principal Kieran Fouhy said he found it "ridiculous" that "legalised marijuana by another name" was being advertised and sold at a dairy near so many schools.

Mr Fouhy said he wasn't aware of any incidents involving his students, but "they are boys. If it's freely available, and it's restricted to 18 - which is very hard to control, in terms of how an 18-year-old looks - I would think it's just nonsense."

Dr Tim Parke, the clinical director of Auckland City Hospital's emergency department, said the products should be illegal. An increasing number of people, particularly those aged 16 to 21, were seeking treatment after using products such as Kronic.

"They come in with severe anxiety, very rapid heart rates - about double what's normal. Some of them don't understand what's happening, some of them think they're going to die."

St John senior clinical education tutor Dr David Anderson said St John in Auckland dealt with patients who had used the synthetic products - a very rare outcome for users of natural cannabis.

In March, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced the Government was enacting additional legislation to limit sales of synthetic cannabinoid substances to those over 18. The changes are expected to apply from next April.

Mr Dunne said a main point in a report from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs was that products such as Kronic were dangerous and being taken up by minors.

However, he resisted making such products controlled substances because "the evidence wasn't strong enough to go that far".

The Government will soon consider a Law Commission recommendation to make firms gain permission before selling synthetic drugs, which would require evidence they were safe.

At present such products can be sold until they are proven harmful.

Matthew Wielenga, the director of Light Years Ahead, the Auckland-based company behind Kronic, said the product was never designed for under-18s, and he strongly supported moves to limit its sale to adults.


WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING?

* Vegetable matter sprayed with research chemicals called synthetic cannabinoids.
* US chemist John W. Huffman discovered synthetic cannabinoids
five times more potent than THC, the active compound in cannabis.
* Underground chemists use them to make products similar to Kronic.
* Smoking products are R18 under the Smoke-free Environments Act.
WHAT GOVT IS DOING

* From next April the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act is due to change to reinforce the restriction of substances to those aged 18 or over.
* Government to consider recommendation that products must be proven to be safe before going on sale.

YOUR STORY

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