August 01, 2018
Killer drugs tested on homeless
Manurewa MP Louisa Wall says developers of so called synthetic cannabis are using homeless people as guinea pigs for new products.
The Government is working on responses to a spike in deaths from psychoactive substances, with at least 45 people dying last year, compared with two over the previous five years.
Ms Wall says three of those were on the streets of her south Auckland electorate.
She says people who work with the homeless tell her homeless whanau are given free bags of new recipes, which some observers have compared with spraying fly spray onto lawn clippings.
"What they are doing is criminal and when we find them they should be prosecuted for these deaths because it is a deliberate act. They are picking on a vulnerable population group that are addicted, have mental health problems," Ms Wall says.
She says part of the solution is getting homless people into houses with wraparound support so they are no longer so vulnerable to drug gangs.
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