With new laws on synthetic cannabis due to come into force in NSW today, the NSW government is refusing to let the sellers of the products access to the legislation. They are also refusing to tell industry, police and the public whether the law has already commenced or whether it comes into force at midnight. It is also not known what substances will come under the regulations and the Minister's office appears confused on the issue.

Eros Association CEO, Fiona Patten, said that there was millions of dollars of product on shelves in NSW today and that it was an appalling situation that the government was refusing to tell industry and the public which chemical substances are being banned. "There is no such thing as 'synthetic cannabis' being sold in the market place so they cannot simply say 'all synthetic cannabinoid products are banned' and expect the police and the public to know what they means", she said. "They have to legislate against certain chemical compounds".

Ms Patten said that in W.A. where they had legislated against a particular smoking mix called Kronic there was now a new smoking mix called Kronic that did not offend the law. This new Kronic was also available in NSW alongside the old one.
“To stop this product being passed onto to the black market and to organised crime groups, the government should buy back these products like John Howard did a gun by-back”, she said. “You can’t burn this material and the police do not want it dumped on their doorstep either”.

She said that in any case the government must compensate NSW businesses that are having a legal part of their business outlawed with less than a week's notice. “These businesses have paid GST on all these products and the NSW government has to pay this back. The legal case for compensation will be pursued vigorously”, she said. “The New Zealand government has legalized the sale of these substances through restricted premises and the NSW government must uphold Australia’s trade obligations with New Zealand which state that a product that is legal in one country will be deemed legal in another”.

Reports coming from the USA yesterday suggest that in their haste to ban synthetic cannabis products, six USA state governments have inadvertently banned common analgesics, chocolate sauce and even some motor oil additives. Ms Patten said that the NSW government had to be absolutely sure that no other common products shared the same chemical compounds that they were trying to legislate against or there would be massive law suits filed. “Because the government will not show the industry its new laws despite repeated requests over the past week, we do not have a lot of confidence that they will get this right”.