Gold Coast police crackdown on legal loopholes allowing synthetic substances to be sold

GOLD Coast police are fighting back against legal loopholes allowing purveyors of synthetic substances to sell “adult incense” and pipes over the counter.

GOLD Coast police are fighting back against legal loopholes allowing purveyors of synthetic substances to sell “adult incense” and pipes over the counter.

Branded, ‘Purple Haze’, ‘Jungle Fever’ and ‘Midnight Express’ the synthetic, leafy substances, are being sold to people over 18, and then in some cases smoked in an attempt to get high.

Purple Haze Herbal Incense. Picture: Jerad Williams

HOW SHOPS CAN STILL SELL ‘DANGEROUS’ SYNTHETIC WEED

The legal loophole being exploited lies in the chemical compounds sprayed onto the leafy substance and whether they are categorised as an illegal drug.

Police sources told the Gold Coast Bulletin as quickly as an ingredient was deemed illegal those behind the substances would change part of the chemical compound, for it now to be, in the eyes of the law, legal.

The source said, “if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck,” when describing the legally grey area.

Purple Haze Herbal Incense. Picture: Jerad Williams

Regional Crime Coordinator Kerry Johnson said police were fighting back, running operations and investigating substances all the time to see whether they had traits of an already illegal drug.

“I know in the past we have had full scale operations on this stuff,” he said.

“It is something our drug squad and local detectives pay a great deal of attention to.

“The onus is on us to prove that these substances are a dangerous drug.

“There is a Government chemical laboratory that decides, they look at the definition of what is a dangerous drug, the chemical compounds that make it up and they make their decision.”

Supt Johnson said police were not going away.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BULLETIN AND GET A FITBIT

Products for sale inside retail store Off Ya Tree Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

“Most of it comes under the banner of psychedelics … in Queensland we operate under the drug misuse act and the schedules that form it,” he said.

“Where the issues come in with any of these outlets, is whether the compound is in our schedule as a dangerous drug, which requires us to do an analysis of it.

“There have been past operations against these outlets and employees, but we have to work within the rules in law enforcement and if it’s not an obvious one, we need to work out what the composition of it is and then base whether we prosecute or not on those tests.

“There are ongoing operations on these substances.”

Det Supt Johnson said there were clear health issues around the use of synthetic drugs.

“The issue is, you don’t know how much has been sprayed on certain parts. You could go from a mild psychedelic effect, to ending up in all sorts of serious trouble... even death.

“Another issue we have run into over the past few years is someone will take a pill that they’re told is ecstasy and it might not be high in purity, then during the evening, take a synthetic LSD or cannabis.

“Those joined together, I’ve seen some horrible outcomes from, people with permanent brain damage and people dying.

“That’s the reason why they are classed as dangerous drugs.”