The Public Health Agency’s (PHA’s) Drug and Alcohol Monitoring and Information System (DAMIS) has been receiving reports of people across Northern Ireland experiencing unpleasant and potentially dangerous side effects after smoking synthetic cannabinoids, with a number of users having been hospitalised.

The PHA is using its early warning system to raise awareness of the risks of this specific group of new emerging substances and is urging those who feel unwell after taking these drugs to seek medical help urgently.

Owen O’Neill, the PHA’s Lead on Drugs and Alcohol, urged people not to take risks with their health: “Synthetic cannabinoids are chemicals that are made to act like the active part of cannabis using a substance called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

“We have received reports of users of synthetic cannabinoids experiencing a range of very unpleasant symptoms including:

• Feeling ill
• Anxiety, panic and disorientation
• Breathing difficulties
• Collapsing and being unconscious
• Extreme agitation
• Hallucinations which have prompted them to try to harm themselves or others.

“While some more recently developed synthetic cannabinoids are legal to sell, it is illegal to sell them for human consumption and many have been banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act…. Read more