AN adult entertainment industry leader has welcomed a Wodonga sex shop withdrawing a synthetic drug after it was found to contain a banned chemical.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Erotic Nights removed White Bull, a cocaine-style product, from its High Street store and seven other outlets across Victoria, after testing found it contained MDPV, a chemical stimulant outlawed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
The decision was yesterday backed by the Eros Association, an organisation which represents adult retailers across Australia.
Its co-ordinator Robbie Swan said: “I’m glad they’ve withdrawn it, once that has been found out”.
Eros’ code of conduct recommends retailers “do not sell MDPV-based products (‘bath salts’) or other products deemed as having an unacceptable risk to health”.
“We just think that they are strong products that have a capacity to really harm people if they take them one or two times,” Mr Swan said.
The Border Mail had the White Bull tested by a professional laboratory and Erotic Nights general manager Seymour Batt said a supplier told his firm it was “fine” to be sold as a legal product.
Mr Swan said it was tough for retailers to ensure the legality of synthetic substances and he urged the government to better regulate producers and distributors.
He said although his organisation and its political arm, the Australian Sex Party, opposed synthetic varieties of cocaine and amphetamine it backed the legalisation of marijuana and its ersatz varieties such as Kronik.
“We would like to see real cannabis taxed and regulated by the government,” Mr Swan said.
“If real cannabis was legalised and taxed we don’t believe the small percentage of problems that are occurring with synthetic cannabinoids would be happening.
“We’re saying ‘let’s get this into perspective’, four people will die from alcohol every week there’s no evidence that is happening with synthetic cannabinoids.”
Mr Swan claimed it was better for retailers to be selling synthetic substances and monitoring the age of customers than trying to stop sales via the internet.
He said the prospects for botanical drugs were “just never-ending”.
“I had a scientist tell me that lavender, pear tree leaves, clover and lawn clippings can all be drugs if they are worked on enough,” Mr Swan said.