Accelerated processes are needed to place new synthetic drugs such as CanKet, which was detected for the first time in 2022 in Canberra, under the Poisons Standard, police say.
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And there is concern from the police association about the growing threat posed by fentanyl, a respiratory depressant and synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more concentrated than morphine.
CanKet, a ketamine derivative, was first detected at the ACT's fixed site pill-testing service in Civic a few months ago. Researchers at the Australian National University were perplexed; they had never seen this ketamine derivative before, nor had it turned up elsewhere.
And four more CanKet samples came in after the first, indicating there was plenty going around Canberra.
In its submission to the current federal parliamentary inquiry into the illicit drugs challenges ahead for law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police Association observed that, legally, CanKet was not considered ketamine.
"Examples of such 'new' drugs represent challenges for police in enforcing drug legislation and governments in adding new drugs to legislation," the association said in its submission.
"Prosecution of CanKet usage or possession could arguably be challenged in a judicial process as the substance does not fall within Schedule 9 of the Poisons Standard."
Ketamine is an anaesthetic commonly used by vets but also as a recreational drug. Care has to be taken in administering ketamine dosages in unsafe settings because of a loss of consciousness and potential psychosis.
But in the case of CanKet, the ketamine had been synthesised with another, unknown drug. Clinical drug expert Associate Professor David Caldicott said no data existed on CanKet and therefore to assume it was safe to take was "an error of judgement".
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The police association, which represents the rank and file officers who work in the ACT and within the national ranks, said the slow legislative pace of updating the Poisons Standard means the criminals who synthesise the new drugs - usually within laboratories in China for market consumption worldwide - can easily stay one step ahead of the law.
"Police and drug analysts often see new substances not covered under the Poisons Standard, which can make prosecution challenging," the association said.
"Organised crime and drug manufacturers move quicker than governments and legislation.
"The association believes that a process must be implemented to accelerate the Poisons Standard's amendments to reflect new drugs in circulation."
As illicit drug trends in the US tend to flow through to much smaller markets like Australia, the threat posed by fentanyl and other novel psychoactive substances (NSPs) will begin to emerge soon.
Drug traffickers see great potential in fentanyl for markets like Australia because less than a pinhead can cause an overdose, which means tiny volumes which escape customs detection can generate massive profits; much more so than the now ubiquitous methamphetamine.
In its latest wastewater report which monitors drug consumption, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission quoted United Nations data which found the number of new psychoactive substances with opioid effects increased nearly sevenfold, from seven substances in 2014 (accounting for 2 per cent of all NPS) to 48 in 2018 (9 per cent of all NPS). These numbers are four years out of date and expected to be well below real-world outputs.
In his investigative book Fentanyl Inc, produced in 2019, US author Ben Westhoff described how in a Skype call to Chinese producers, they were happy to show off their fake packaging - such as dog food and high gluten wheat flour - in "tamper-proof bags" to undermine the customs process.
On October 28, 2023, new legislation - the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Act 2022 - will come into effect in the ACT which allows for the personal possession of small quantities of currently illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
However, under the same legislation, an offence occurs when "the person possesses three or more different kinds of relevant substance".
But in a decriminalised, all-encompassing drug environment, and given the proliferation of unknown synthetics like CanKet, how police on the street in Canberra are able to make an assessment of what specific substances are, let alone what it is mixed with, appears an insurmountable challenge.
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