Cannabis warning rejected

Press, 9 May 1983, Page 1

Cannabis warning rejected

Police warnings about cannabis contaminated with the chemical, 2,4,5-T, are unjustified, a leading toxicologist has said. The Police National Headquarters drug squad has warned cannabis smokers that they risk serious illness by smoking or even handling contaminated plants. The national warning was issued after the discovery that plants seized in a West Coast search on Thursday had been sprayed with the weedkiller.

However, the head of the National Poisons Centre in Dunedin, Professor Ralph Edwards, said he doubted that smokers of contaminated plants would notice any difference to their health. “You would really have to be a great cannabis smoker to come to any harm at all,” he said. The chemical could cause convulsions and a drop in blood pressure but it needed an “astronomical” exposure. The chemical was not

nearly as dangerous as paraquat weedkiller, which had caused the recent scare among cannabis users in the United States. “We have worked out that you can be sprayed from head to toe with 2,4,5-T from an aerial sprayer every day of your life and not run into any problem,” Professor Edwards said. The chemical was virtually undetectable in plants about a fortnight after spraying. The temperature at which cannabis burned

might also destroy some traces of the chemical. However, if people were still worried about 2,4,5-T, it was common sense not to smoke any cannabis that appeared to be dying. Detective Sergeant T. J. Gorman, of the Greymouth C. 1.8., said that about 15 contaminated plants had been found in a Reefton riverbed during a routine search. The plants were dying and the police had destroyed them on the spot.

“It is the first time we have ever come across it,” he said.

Other crops could also be affected. Local authorities had been using 2,4,5-T in several areas, although there was no way of knowing whether other cannabis crops were contaminated.

A national warning had been issued and the police were watching for any cases of illness which could be linked with smoking the contaminated plants.