BANNED KRONIC STILL ON SHELVES

Psst. want to buy some Kronic Pineapple Express? Your local dairy may
still stock the substance, despite it being banned.

The so-called "legal high", found to contain synthetic cannabinoids
and banned from sale on Thursday, was joined on the illegal list
yesterday by Cosmic Corner's Juicy Puff Super Strength, after tests
revealed they both contained the prescription drug phenazepam, an
anxiety medication used overseas.

Yet the Herald on Sunday easily bought a 1.25g bag of Pineapple
Express yesterday at Khyber Pass News Agency in Newmarket.

The man serving at the counter - who would not give his name and said
his solicitor had advised him not to speak to the media after a
previous negative story - said he didn't know he was supposed to
remove it from the shelves. Nobody had told him to do so.

If he was told to, he would happily withdraw the product from sale.
He said he hadn't been contacted by the manufacturer.

His comments were in contrast to other shopkeepers though. On
Dominion Rd, three store owners said Kronic representatives had
phoned to tell them Pineapple Express should not be sold - but all
three had already voluntarily stopped selling all Kronic products.

Superette owner Sophia Song said after hearing concerns about young
people taking the product, she decided it wasn't something she wanted to sell.

Kronic is marketed by Lightyears Ahead, but director Matthew Wielenga
couldn't be reached for comment.

Cosmic Corner owner Mark Carswell was also unavailable for comment
yesterday, but in a written statement said the company had purchased
Juicy Puff "in good faith" from an Auckland firm, London Underground.

"Juicy Puff Super Strength is not intended to contain phenazepam, and
Cosmic was not aware that it contained phenazepam."

He said Cosmic would co-operate fully with the Ministry of Health to
ensure the product was recalled and would offer a store credit to
customers who returned the product.

Stewart Jessamine, manager of Medsafe, the unit within the ministry
that is responsible for regulating medicine, said that by early this
week all shops should be aware of the ban.

Staff would begin checking stores and anybody caught knowingly
selling the banned products could face charges under the Medicines
Act and a fine of $20,000 or six months' jail.

Jessamine said the Institute of Environmental Science and Research
(ESR) tested 43 cannabinoid-based products after being alerted to the
number of people presenting in hospital emergency wards with unusual
symptoms after smoking the products.

Those symptoms included disorientation, amnesia, confusion and
sedation, and were to be expected in people who'd consumed
cannabinoids in combination with alcohol and phenazepam.

Carswell said his industry's leaders would meet tomorrow to discuss a
code of practice that would include tests to ensure that all incoming
materials were screened for contaminants in the future.