Despite being banned in 2014 the drug is still widely available on the black market and has been linked to seven deaths and many hospitalisationsA spate of deaths in New Zealand linked to “zombie drug” synthetic cannabis has prompted the country’s chief coroner and police to issue an urgent public health warning. In July alone there were at least seven deaths in Auckland which appear to be linked to the use of synthetic cannabis but police said the problem was nation-wide. In an effort to help the general public understand the dangerous effects of synthetic cannabis, the New Zealand police have taken the unusual step of releasing CCTV footage taken from a camera in Auckland which shows a man smoking synthetic cannabis through a pipe attached to a plastic water bottle. Over the last twenty years hundreds of synthetic cannabinoid products have flooded the market because of their cheap price and potent highs, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Emergency medicine specialist at Wellington Hospital Dr Paul Quigley told the New Zealand Herald a single roll-up made with synthetic cannabis is the equivalent of 15 cannabis joints.

Source: The Guardian July 22, 2017 00:33 UTC