July 26, 2017
Synthetic drug use takes another life
Auckland's synthetic cannabis death toll has just hit eight for the month of July after a man died at Middlemore Hospital overnight.
Just last Friday a joint statement from Police and the Chief Coroner had the death toll at 7.
Gilbert Taurua from the New Zealand Drug Foundation says the inconsistent messaging the lack of clear accurate information from those charged with informing the public means we're being kept in the dark about the extent of the problem.
"We've heard it's over 7, we've heard that it's occurred over the last 6 – 9 months and of course the media release that the coroner put out last week said one month. There's a whole lot of misinformation going on out there. We've heard that 6 people were hospitalised over the weekend. We're not getting clear and consistent messaging from those responsible to try and minimise this harm" he says.
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