Two people who have directly felt the consequences of addiction to synthetic cannabinoids, or legal highs, will speak at a free public information session in Queenstown next week.
The forum, organised by Supporting Families Queenstown field officer Jo Moore, will include presentations by the police, Public Health South, a representative from Lakes District Hospital, Adventure Development staff, a mother who will speak about helping her child struggling with addiction, and another person who is fighting addiction at present.
Ms Moore said she had attended a similar session recently, and when she returned to Queenstown and started talking about it, many people asked if one could be run here.
''In terms of the long-term consequences, there is very little we know about these products. There has been quite a bit happening lately around law changes ... with the law changes people are really interested to know what's going to happen.
''The talk is aimed, really broadly, at the whole community - agencies, parents of teenagers, employers.''
For employers, the use of legal highs was something they needed to consider in terms of health and safety, policies and procedures within the workplace, she said.
''Often, organisations have policies around appropriate alcohol use and working machinery, but they need to be considering policies around this as well.''
The session would cover an explanation of legal highs, present and proposed legislation, the social and health consequences of its use and information about addiction, Ms Moore said.
The latter would be discussed by representatives from Adventure Development, who dealt with alcohol and drug addictions in youth.
''They're going to speak about the signs that somebody is using [synthetic cannabis], why they [want] to have a go at these products and what the chemical process is in the brain around addiction and why people become addicted.
''Someone from Lakes District Hospital will talk about what they see when people present at the hospital and the police will talk about what they're seeing on the streets.''
The information session will be held from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Monday at the Queenstown Events Centre mezzanine function room.
Anyone wanting more information, can email Ms Moore on jo@sfwakatipu.org.nz or call 0800 724-496.
