Rotorua police warn against selling synthetic cannabis

Rotorua police have warned that selling synthetic cannabis carries a criminal conviction and say they are actively seeking information to slow the trade.

Crime prevention manager Stuart Nightingale said they were hoping to stop the sales of synthetic cannabis in Rotorua.

"There is always an undesirable element in any town who would take advantage of vulnerable people and people with addictions, to make money off those addictions," he said.

"They might consider themselves to be enterprising businessmen or women, I wouldn't use such flattering terms.

"They really are bottom dwellers who make money purveying community harm, bottom line. That's it."

Mr Nightingale said they had come across synthetic cannabis periodically before this week's spike.

"It is concerning for a whole bunch of reasons," he said.

"We've known for quite a while that our violent crime offending has been with the aim of obtaining money to purchase synthetics."

Currently there are no legal synthetic highs available on the market and Mr Nightingale said this pointed towards the fact these drugs are dangerous.

"They tend to be a concoction of all sorts of chemicals which can have disastrous effects on people's health physically and mentally," he said.

"It's addictive and it's dangerous and as we've seen from the Auckland examples it is suspected to be related to deaths."

Mr Nightingale said while they were tracking the source of these drugs, families needed to start the conversation at home.

"We need to protect our people and keep the people accountable that are selling this harm to our communities," he said.

"If people have family members they know are using synthetics they need to have a direct conversation around that.

"It is a product that can absolutely destroy our people and families. It can lead to disastrous consequences, we need to be directly involved in our loved ones lives."

Mr Nightingale said the substances dramatically affected people's behaviour.

"On occasion police have assisted ambulance picking up people suspected of being on synthetics because they are acting in an erratic or violent matter," he said.

"It's absolutely dangerous.

"We are concerned for the safety of the subject as well who can pose a risk to themselves."

Mr Nightingale asked that members of the public don't hesitate to call police or Crime Stoppers for any information on people that are selling, buying or using synthetics.