The Government, in the guise of Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, announced last week a crackdown on the synthetic cannabis product Kronic.
Not before time, many would argue, while others say the intended restrictions do not go far enough given the growing evidence of social and medical problems, and criminal menace, associated with it. Dunedin police, for example, have encountered incidents in which "Kronic is the key motivator for robberies".
At the same time, while the evidence is yet largely anecdotal, there are suggestions the substance is creating pressure on the health system; and social agencies are noting some repercussions in the field of mental health.
Mr Dunne confirmed on Friday restrictions on such cannabinoids could be expected to within weeks under amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act 2005. The restrictions would include making it an offence to supply under-18s, a ban on giveaways, free samples or prizes, no advertising in public and store displays not being audible or visible from outside.
Sales from liquor licensed stores, service stations or vehicles would be banned, as would selling at schools or sports grounds. But do such moves go far enough?
Dr Leo Schep, of the Dunedin-based National Poison Centre, does not believe so. He advocates a total ban, citing the potential adverse results of its use, and ignorance of its long-term effects.
"Our young people need to be protected from the unscrupulous people selling it," he told the Otago Daily Times last week. Dr Schep is not alone. Similar synthetic cannabinoids are banned in 16 different countries, including Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan and Ireland.
Last week it became illegal in the state of Western Australia to possess or supply such substances - with fines of up to $25,000 or 25 years' jail as possible penalties.
Police in Dunedin have been liaising with their West Australian counterparts following the rise in Kronic-related crimes in this city. "Officers are seeing the consequences of it," said Sergeant Chris McLellan, of the Dunedin pro-active policing team.
In the longer term, the Government is likely to follow the recommendations of the Law Commission to put the onus back on the manufacturers "to prove they are safe before they go to market", Mr Dunne said, highlighting a problem in the industry.
As the law stands, manufacturers, faced with claims their product is dangerous, have simply adjusted the ingredient list and quantities to produce a very similar substance. Pursuing such companies is time-consuming and expensive for the authorities and the Law Commission's call is a sound one.
At the same time, further evidence as to the harm and distress caused by these synthetic cannabis-like products must be gathered, particularly with respect to people seeking medical help or hospital treatment.
This will add strength to the calls of various authorities to curtail the sale of Kronic and associated substances. In Oamaru on Friday and Saturday Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton, police community constable Bruce Dow and Catholic Church priest Fr Wayne Healey visited eight retailers with a view to attempting to dissuade them from stocking the product.
Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan has called on retailers not to stock cannabinoids and in Dunedin police have produced a poster - "We choose not to sell synthetic cannabinoids" - for retailers to display on their premises.
This latter initiative has been adopted at the behest of retailers citing safety and a degree of social stigmatism - indeed abuse - arising from stocking products such as Kronic.
If, however, there is an uncomfortable degree of inconsistency in the rising furore around these "harmful" but legal products, it is in the treatment of other similarly legal but socially acceptable substances: tobacco and alcohol, for example.
It is instructive to try to imagine how tobacco purveyors, beginning afresh today, would fare in trying to prove their products are "safe before they go to market". Surely tobacco would disappear from retailer shelves overnight.
Likewise, albeit to a lesser extent, alcohol. Grim experience tells us that consumed to excess, it can have disastrous consequences. That said, this is not a good reason to backpedal over Kronic. The Government needs urgently to assess its dangers and set firm legislative restrictions around it.
