Synthetic drug user filmed writhing, screaming outside primary school

A still of the video showing the man writhing in the bus stop. Photo/Shade McClelland/Newshub

Footage has emerged of a man screaming and writhing around on the ground in front of an Auckland primary school in an apparent synthetic drug-induced episode.

Video footage shows the man outside New Lynn Primary School having a violent seizure, apparently after using synthetic drugs and bath salts, Newshub reports.

A witness, Shane McClellan, spoke with Newshub and said it was a "very scary" episode. McClellan tried to help, but said the man was in "another realm" and screamed, "they're trying to kill me".

"It gives me quivers to hear a grown man scream like that."

McClellan said teachers quickly diverted students away from the bus stop where the man was.

"I wouldn't want anyone to see that... The kids that were watching it, I felt sorry for them."

He said there were three other people using the drugs with the man. One of them spoke with him and told them they had used the drugs, before walking away.

This is the latest incident in a spate of serious synthetic drug-induced issues. Eight people have died in the last month and ambulance services are saying they see 20 people a day due to problems associated with it.

The deaths have prompted the Chief Coroner and police to issue a public warning about synthetic cannabis.

"I've also been advised by St John that there have been a significant number of non-fatal cases where people have been hospitalised after using the drug, which is known to cause potentially fatal seizures," Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall said.

"While the police and coronial investigations are still at an early stage, and the final causes of death have yet to be established, the number of cases where synthetic cannabis appear to have been a contributing factor has prompted me to issue this public warning," she said.