A WARRNAMBOOL businessman has described his experience with the synthetic cannabinoid Kronic as “scary” and warned people to stay away from the over-the-counter drug.
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The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the synthesised marijuana had made himself and his friends feel seriously ill very quickly, caused them to momentarily pass out, hallucinate, and had almost led to an ambulance being called as he began to fear for his personal safety.
“I’ve had my fair share of experiences with drugs in my youth, through university days, and still have the occasional joint but this was the most full-on experience you could imagine,” he said.
The man explained that he and his friends had only taken about two tokes (inhalations) each of a joint of Kronic before they began to feel the effects.
“It knocked all five of us that had a tiny amount on our backsides, within about 10 minutes, and was completely unexpected,” he said.
“It had instant impact and was much stronger than we were expecting and very hard to control mentally.
“I could see it leading to serious psychosis and schizophrenia with continual use and the strength of it should not be underestimated.”
He described the sensation of taking Kronic as being closer to a large dose of LSD rather than marijuana.
“We thought we’d try a little for a laugh. You buy it over the counter legally so you think it might make you giggle and not last too long.
“But this stuff was serious and very overwhelming.
“The worrying thing is that we only took about two tokes each and passed it around, but instantly the effects came on and no one wanted any more.
“In fact, all of us have said we’ll never touch it again. We won’t be going back to try it a second time. It was pretty scary.
“It came on so fast. Within five minutes we were pretty much all semi-comatose and unable to talk.
“When our partners came to see what was going on, apparently a couple of them were going to call an ambulance.
“We looked dead, drained in the face ... we were white or yellow and unable to move or talk while concerned friends and partners tried to help.
“It was full-on. We were all surprised at the strength.
“At one point we were all sitting there effectively passed out ... unable to talk, unable to move.
“My heart was racing a mile a minute. I had serious shakes at one point, which I have never experienced before.
“I was disabled physically while my brain went into overdrive.
“It took me about an hour and a half until I could control my mind, that’s how powerful it was. Two friends went home and took even longer to come off it.
“A couple have had time off work because they felt paranoid, sick and disoriented a couple of days later, which is ridiculous for an isolated incident and the incredibly small quantity.
“It’s not like I’ve never done this sort of stuff before and a few of us would usually have no fear of anything like this but we would not go back again.
“What’s alarming about it is that a kid who’s 15 or 16 could get their hands on this stuff legally and go to smoke a whole joint of it themselves and basically lose the plot.
“It could very easily stuff your head up and have long-lasting effects, such was the strength of it and speed it came on.
“It was not like a marijuana joint, which does not have anywhere near the same effects or potential consequences.”
The businessman said he texted his friends the next day to make sure they were OK.
He said one of them had researched Kronic online and discovered information suggesting that some batches were up to 100 times stronger than natural cannabis.