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NZ - Concern at new psychedelic drugs
Potent psychedelic drugs - blamed for the death-plunge of an Australian teen - have hit New Zealand and officials fear their arrival could be lethal.
Figures obtained by Fairfax Media show thousands of illicit tabs, which induce hallucinations, have been seized this year - a huge jump from last year - and authorities believe many more are going undetected.
Police say the rapid rise in supply is fuelled largely by black market websites and the arrival of a new series of synthetic drugs known as NBOMe, which mimic Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD).
Experts warn their hallucinogenic effects are powerful and potentially dangerous with their use linked to deaths overseas - most notably a case in Sydney where a teenager thought he could fly and threw himself off a building.
The NBOMe group is covered by the Psychoactive Substances Act and people supplying the synthetic drug face a maximum prison sentence of two years.
However, officials say it should be governed by tougher legislation.
Environmental Science and Research (ESR) forensic general manager Dr Keith Bedford said the law should treat the NBOMe family like LSD - a Class A controlled drug along with heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine (P).
Associate Health Minister Todd McClay has asked his staff to gather information about the drugs "urgently" to see if they should be covered by different legislation.
"I'm extremely concerned that this product may be... made available to people who might harm themselves," he said.
Police figures show that more than 12,000 tabs of LSD and other drugs have been seized this year, compared with about 700 for the same period last year. Many of them are thought to be NBOMe.
Detective Inspector Stuart Mills, co-ordinator of police's drug intelligence bureau, said police had major concerns about the drug and its use in the community.
He warned NBOMe's "extreme newness" meant many people would not know what they were taking, which could have lethal consequences.
It was often sold in blotter tabs as LSD, which have a street value of $40, but also came in liquid and powder forms, Mills said.
More than 5000 tabs were seized in a joint police and Customs operation in the Waikato in August. The drugs were tested and confirmed to be NBOMe.
The spike in its availability was driven by black market websites like Silk Road - an anonymous, encrypted black market trading in illicit drugs, Mills said. It was recently shut down by the FBI, but similar websites have already emerged, he said.
Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority manager Dr Donald Hannah said an expert advisory committee would discuss NBOMe at a "future meeting" and then advise Health Minister Tony Ryall about how it should be classed.
Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch, officer in charge of the Wellington drug squad, said NBOMe tabs emerged in the capital about a year ago and were now found regularly during raids across the city.
Police in Canterbury have also found the drug, but are yet to make any significant seizures.
New South Wales became the first state in Australia to ban psychoactive substances last month following the death of Henry Kwan, 17, in June. The Sydney teen reportedly ingested NBOMe hours before he jumped to his death because he thought he could fly.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9381980/Concern-at-new-psychedelic-drugs
Potent psychedelic drugs - blamed for the death-plunge of an Australian teen - have hit New Zealand and officials fear their arrival could be lethal.
Figures obtained by Fairfax Media show thousands of illicit tabs, which induce hallucinations, have been seized this year - a huge jump from last year - and authorities believe many more are going undetected.
Police say the rapid rise in supply is fuelled largely by black market websites and the arrival of a new series of synthetic drugs known as NBOMe, which mimic Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD).
Experts warn their hallucinogenic effects are powerful and potentially dangerous with their use linked to deaths overseas - most notably a case in Sydney where a teenager thought he could fly and threw himself off a building.
The NBOMe group is covered by the Psychoactive Substances Act and people supplying the synthetic drug face a maximum prison sentence of two years.
However, officials say it should be governed by tougher legislation.
Environmental Science and Research (ESR) forensic general manager Dr Keith Bedford said the law should treat the NBOMe family like LSD - a Class A controlled drug along with heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine (P).
Associate Health Minister Todd McClay has asked his staff to gather information about the drugs "urgently" to see if they should be covered by different legislation.
"I'm extremely concerned that this product may be... made available to people who might harm themselves," he said.
Police figures show that more than 12,000 tabs of LSD and other drugs have been seized this year, compared with about 700 for the same period last year. Many of them are thought to be NBOMe.
Detective Inspector Stuart Mills, co-ordinator of police's drug intelligence bureau, said police had major concerns about the drug and its use in the community.
He warned NBOMe's "extreme newness" meant many people would not know what they were taking, which could have lethal consequences.
It was often sold in blotter tabs as LSD, which have a street value of $40, but also came in liquid and powder forms, Mills said.
More than 5000 tabs were seized in a joint police and Customs operation in the Waikato in August. The drugs were tested and confirmed to be NBOMe.
The spike in its availability was driven by black market websites like Silk Road - an anonymous, encrypted black market trading in illicit drugs, Mills said. It was recently shut down by the FBI, but similar websites have already emerged, he said.
Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority manager Dr Donald Hannah said an expert advisory committee would discuss NBOMe at a "future meeting" and then advise Health Minister Tony Ryall about how it should be classed.
Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch, officer in charge of the Wellington drug squad, said NBOMe tabs emerged in the capital about a year ago and were now found regularly during raids across the city.
Police in Canterbury have also found the drug, but are yet to make any significant seizures.
New South Wales became the first state in Australia to ban psychoactive substances last month following the death of Henry Kwan, 17, in June. The Sydney teen reportedly ingested NBOMe hours before he jumped to his death because he thought he could fly.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9381980/Concern-at-new-psychedelic-drugs
