TASMANIA’S forensics experts have warned about the proliferation of designer drugs that in the words of one scientist are a bottomless pit when it comes to new varieties.
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The synthetic drugs have names like NBOME and are often sold as ‘‘herbal highs’’.
In some cases they simply go by their obscure chemical structures and are extremely potent, making them potentially lethal.
Attempts to ban them are often futile because a slight chemical change in their make-up means they are able to sneak past lawmakers.
The first generation of the drugs hit the markets in 2009, and since then authorities have seen hundreds of variations.
Forensic Science Service Tasmania chemist Claire Fulton said the drugs were now in their seventh generation.
‘‘They’re new, half of them you’ve never seen before, so you have to figure out what they might be,’’ she said.
‘‘They appear then they disappear, and then the new ones come and they disappear.”
Ms Fulton’s boss, Michael Manthey, holds up a small bag of green organic material labelled Pineapple Express.
‘‘The high doesn’t come from the plant material: it comes from the chemicals laced on the plant,’’ he said.
“The problem with these is they are extremely potent. So a very small amount has side-effects and you can’t weigh it out.”
