Locals to protest sale of legal highs

Oamaru woman Linda Forbes is taking a stand against the sale of synthetic drugs in Oamaru.

She is looking for support from the community on Saturday as she stages a protest to raise awareness of the dangers of legal drugs.

She will be leading a walk down Thames Highway, starting at 2pm outside Meadowbank Dairy, trying to stop the sale of the legal drugs which she says are turning good kids into criminals.

With a legal high that mimics the effects of cannabis, the synthetic drug is believed to be on sale in at least three Oamaru outlets.

Her actions come after Meadowbank Dairy staff were allegedly robbed at knifepoint this month and in a separate incident in May, and robbers allegedly took off with synthetic cannabis products.

Mrs Forbes has never staged a protest before, but has seen first-hand the effects synthetic cannabis can have and wants to do something about it.

"I've nearly lost one child to drugs and my 15-year-old has tried the K2 so I know from experience that it's bad. It's so bad," she said.

Everybody needed to know that, by selling the synthetic cannabis, the retailers were putting lives at risk, she said.

"Anyone could go into the shop to get an ice cream or bread and end up in there with someone with a knife," she said.

"It's not worth putting everybody that comes into your shop at risk."

Mrs Forbes said she had seen how the product changed people, making them agitated, aggressive and giving them "a strength that came out of nowhere".

"It's so dangerous and [last week] I just thought 'I'm going to do something about it'. I didn't know how, but I thought 'I'm going to do it'," she said.

"It's all pretty new to me, all I know is that I'm going to do it. I'm terrified, but I'm so determined and doing something is better than doing nothing."

Mrs Forbes' movement has the support of Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean.

"She is very brave to be making a stand. I absolutely support her," Mrs Dean said.

"If [the protest] is going to convince any retailer to stop selling them, that's a fantastic result."

For updates on Mrs Forbes' protest, see her Facebook page "Help stop legal highs".

The Oamaru police are aware of the protest plans.