LSD in Snoopy, Garfield

Press, 1 August 1987, Page 1

LSD in Snoopy, Garfield

PA Auckland Cartoon characters on porous paper impregnated with the hallucinogenic drug LSD are now widely available on New Zealand streets, according to the police. Eleven varieties, including Superman, Snoopy, Pink Panther and Garfield, have been seized, said the head of Auckland’s drug squad, Detective Inspector Peter Robinson. Most of the LSD, was coming by mail from the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and Australia.

"There is no difficulty in importing it. You could have 1000 dosages in the pages of a magazine. It could be rolled up in your sock,” he said. Mr Robinson said the pictures would indicate to a user the type of strength he was buying. LSD was difficult to detect “It is odourless, colourless and tasteless. There is certainly plenty of it around at the moment,” he said. The class A controlled drug carries a maximum of life imprisonment for production, im-

portation or supply. A director of the Foundation for Alcohol and Drug-related Education, Mr lan Hastings, said that when parents found out how LSD is marketed they were "staggered.” Mr Hastings, a former head of the police drugs squad, said: “They don’t believe these strips of paper with bright pictures on them can contain a harmful drug. LSD is being manufactured and designed to appeal to younger people.” He said each Icm square

“trip” was now selling for between $2O and $4O in Auckland. “LSD attacks the central nervous system and distorts the perception by affecting the functions of the brain, causing hallucinations,” he said. “A user may experience loss of emotional control, disorientation, depression, dizziness and panic. Mr Hastings said the drug had been in New Zealand infrequently since the late 19605. “Its reappearance since last Christmas is grave cause for concern,” he said.