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A SYNTHETIC drug that mimics the effects of cocaine is being sold on the Border, and it’s just as expensive as the real thing.
While the product, called Shaman’s Dust, is being marketed as a legal alternative to cocaine, its legality is in question.
Authorities have pointed out that for a drug to be deemed legal its active ingredients must be known.
The active ingredient in Shaman’s Dust is a mystery.
Police and drug and alcohol counsellors were unaware the product was being sold on the Border.
“Investigations into the synthetic substance referred to as Shaman’s Dust are continuing to establish whether it is legal,” a Victoria Police spokesman said yesterday.
The product has been for sale at Erotic Nights in Wodonga, part of a range of synthetic products at the store, which also includes synthetic marijuana and ecstasy.
Staff at the store declined to comment but buyers told
Users have reported that Shaman’s Dust is “stronger than real cocaine” and that people who take too much are “awake for days” or end up “violently ill”.
The product’s makers claim you cannot have a positive urine or saliva swab while on Shaman’s Dust.
It’s being sold for $150 for half a gram and was widely available online but had sold out at many web-based stores.
Police sources said one gram of cocaine could be obtained on the Border for $250, making Shaman’s Dust more expensive.
A Victoria Police spokesman said new versions of synthetic drugs were emerging all the time “created specifically to sit outside the current legislation”.
“It has to be borne in mind that these substances have not been through the rigorous testing regimes that medications have to go through and are not produced in a regulated and sanitised environment.
“Purchasers and users of these ‘legal highs’ have no way of knowing exactly what they are taking, what bulking agents have been used and what quantity they are taking.”
There is a growing range of products marketed as “legal highs”, including synthetic marijuana product Kronic and synthetic ecstasy pills.
