A social justice advocate is confused as to why his synthetic drug recovery programme can't secure funding.
A recovery programme called Tangata Mahi Pai in Hawke's Bay claims to have had a successful pilot run, but needs significant financial backing. The scheme was designed to help marginalised community members halt their addictions.
Denis O'Reilly, a social justice campaigner with links to Black Power, says the Government needs to ask communities for local solutions, because "at a community level it's not rocket science".
He calls synthetics a slow suicide.
- Synthetic drugs kill 45 people in one year - Coroner
- Synthetic drug ambulance callouts triple in Auckland
- Lack of education to blame for spike in synthetic-related deaths - expert
The Drug Foundation has also called on the Government to ask community providers what help they need and to have agencies co-ordinate so that information and warnings are shared about dangerous drugs.
The Coroner's office told Newshub there have been 40 to 45 deaths which provisionally appear to have been caused by "synthetic cannabis toxicity" since 2017.
In the previous five years, there were two deaths linked to the synthetic drugs and others suspected but not yet confirmed. In April, St John ambulances responded to 121 synthetic-drug related incidents - twice the number of the previous month.
Massey University's Chris Wilkins says some of those victims just needed a little more awareness, and suggests the Government create a system to communicate to users in real-time. He believes a lack of education contributed to the deaths.
Health Minister David Clark said it's "deeply concerning" to hear of the deaths.
Newshub.
