The West Australian © Police have launched raids in Perth and Karratha to seize suspected synthetic cannabis that may turn out to be completely legal under WA's drug laws.
WA became the first jurisdiction in Australia to try to ban synthetic cannabis when Mental Health Minister Helen Morton last month announced the Government would add seven chemical compounds to the list of prohibited substances under the Poisons Act.
The compounds are found in over-the-counter synthetic cannabis products marketed under brand names including Kronic, Voodoo and Kaos
The Federal Government subsequently banned those seven compounds, plus an eighth, earlier this month.
Detectives yesterday seized around 100 packets of a substance marketed as Kronic Black from two adult shops in Malaga.
Kronic Black's New Zealand manufacturer claims that the substance contains a re-worked chemical compound that does not fall foul of the new State or Federal laws.
Karratha detectives last week seized about 1kg of a substance they believe could be synthetic cannabis after a package was identified in the mail. It is understood the substance was not labelled.
Karratha Det-Sgt Adrian Richards said that police were not yet sure exactly what substance had been seized.
"There was a seizure of a substance last week - certainly it is a sizeable amount," Det. Sgt Richards said.
Police have sent the seized substances from both raids to the ChemCentre testing laboratory for analysis.
Results were expected back in less than a week, Ms Morton said yesterday.
She said she had no idea if the seized substances were illegal or not but she cautioned retailers against trusting the claims of manufacturers.
"We always anticipated that the suppliers and manufacturers would come up with an alternative to what we've banned," she said.
"The real surprise to me is that the dealers - the people who are selling this - have place sufficient trust in the suppliers that they are prepared to risk a $100,000 fine or 25 years in jail if any of the substances that have been banned … are found in these substances."
Ms Morton said if the ChemCentre testing unearthed new chemical compounds, those too would be banned.
A spokeswoman for Police Minister Rob Johnson said he would raise the issue of synthetic cannabis at today's meeting of State and Federal police ministers in New Zealand.
WA became the first jurisdiction in Australia to try to ban synthetic cannabis when Mental Health Minister Helen Morton last month announced the Government would add seven chemical compounds to the list of prohibited substances under the Poisons Act.
The compounds are found in over-the-counter synthetic cannabis products marketed under brand names including Kronic, Voodoo and Kaos
The Federal Government subsequently banned those seven compounds, plus an eighth, earlier this month.
Detectives yesterday seized around 100 packets of a substance marketed as Kronic Black from two adult shops in Malaga.
Kronic Black's New Zealand manufacturer claims that the substance contains a re-worked chemical compound that does not fall foul of the new State or Federal laws.
Karratha detectives last week seized about 1kg of a substance they believe could be synthetic cannabis after a package was identified in the mail. It is understood the substance was not labelled.
Karratha Det-Sgt Adrian Richards said that police were not yet sure exactly what substance had been seized.
"There was a seizure of a substance last week - certainly it is a sizeable amount," Det. Sgt Richards said.
Police have sent the seized substances from both raids to the ChemCentre testing laboratory for analysis.
Results were expected back in less than a week, Ms Morton said yesterday.
She said she had no idea if the seized substances were illegal or not but she cautioned retailers against trusting the claims of manufacturers.
"We always anticipated that the suppliers and manufacturers would come up with an alternative to what we've banned," she said.
"The real surprise to me is that the dealers - the people who are selling this - have place sufficient trust in the suppliers that they are prepared to risk a $100,000 fine or 25 years in jail if any of the substances that have been banned … are found in these substances."
Ms Morton said if the ChemCentre testing unearthed new chemical compounds, those too would be banned.
A spokeswoman for Police Minister Rob Johnson said he would raise the issue of synthetic cannabis at today's meeting of State and Federal police ministers in New Zealand.
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