Pubdate: Mon, 10 Jun 2013
Source: Moree Champion (Australia)
Copyright: 2013 Fairfax Media
Contact:  http://www.moreechampion.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5376
Author: Lisa Davies

NATIONAL SYNTHETIC DRUGS BAN CALL

A permanent ban on synthetic drugs is now on the national agenda, 
with NSW and Victoria both urging the federal government to outlaw 
the products across the country.

More than 100 fair trading officers will be deployed across NSW this 
week to enforce the state government's interim ban on the sale of the 
synthetic drugs. NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts said 
retailers including sex shops, tobacconists and service stations 
which were found to be in breach faced fines of up to $1.1 million.

On Sunday Mr Roberts banned 18 products as well as any other 
cannabinoids and bath salts that are similar or mimic the same highs, 
in a bid to prevent retailers and manufacturers making minor tweaks 
to the product or its labelling to get around the restrictions.

Products on the banned list include White Revolver, Ash Inferno, 
Black Widow, Skunk, Kronic, K2, Vortex Inferno and Montana Madness - 
as well as any that are "represented as such an equivalent".

The bans come in the wake of the death of 17-year-old Henry Kwan, who 
jumped over his family's third-floor balcony after taking a tab of a 
drug that is marketed as mimicking the effects of LSD.

He allegedly got the drug from a classmate who had purchased it 
online from overseas, a market untouched by this crackdown.

In what is one of the largest operations ever undertaken by his 
department, Mr Roberts said he was unperturbed by potential legal 
action by synthetic drug sellers to keep the products on the shelves, 
just as he was uninterested in a $200 million offer by the group to 
invest in testing.

"I'm not interested in testing them," Mr Roberts said, adding that 
there had already been two deaths from the effects of these substances.

He said the synthetic drug industry was worth $700 million 
nationally, and federal government support was "crucial" in ensuring 
the ban was permanent once the 90 days expires.

The move follows a state government inquiry that recommended 
outlawing almost all synthetic cannabinoids and giving the Minister 
for Fair Trading power to issue on-the-spot bans on products in adult 
shops, tobacconists and other stores.

But Eros, the national adult retail and entertainment association, 
argues the bans will not stop the desire for the products or the 
spread of their use, and backyard drug dealers and online markets may 
well pick up the trade from regulated shops.

Eros co-ordinator Robbie Swan said he could see this getting 
"completely out of hand" and scientific testing was the only way to 
make manufacturers and sellers responsible for products on the market.

Synthetic drugs are products containing chemicals artificially 
developed to mimic the effects of cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine.

They exist in a grey legal area because manufacturers tweak their 
recipes to circumvent illegal drug classifications.

Mr Roberts said federal government minister Tanya Plibersek had 
already pledged to work with the states to prevent synthetic drugs 
circulating, so he urged her to join with the Australian Competition 
and Consumer Commission to make the bans permanent.

"This is where the federal government needs to step up to the plate 
and make sure that when these products are banned, they are able to 
assist customs with the ability to stop them coming into the country," he said.

Nearly one in 10 17-year-old boys and one in 20 17-year-old girls 
admitted to taking hallucinogens in the federal government's survey 
of secondary school students last year.

Victoria supported the NSW government's calls for a national 
approach. Crime Prevention Minister Edward O'Donohue said it wanted 
to open a dialogue with the federal authorities about extending the 
bans in line with NSW laws.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom