Calls for greater legal protections for people in drug overdoses

The New Zealand Drug Foundation is calling for greater legal protections for people experiencing a drug overdose.

It comes after one person died and five others were hospitalised following a string of suspected overdoses of the fantasy drug GHB in Wellington in recent days.

A woman died at Woofingtons, a castle-like mansion in Wellington after drinking GHB from a bottle, her friend earlier told RNZ.

New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm told Morning Report there are a group of three "G-type" substances - GHB, GBL and 14BD.

She said they give the user a bit of a "eurphoric effect" similar to alcohol. It can make a user a "bit groggy and sexualised".

The substances are relatively potent, Helm said. 14BD commonly had a slow onset, she said, leading people to think the drug hadn't worked and they typically took more.

It was "vital" that users called for help if they needed it after taking the drug and they should be able to alert authorities without fear of facing legal charges.

"It's really great that we have a law that protects people from going to drug checking without being prosecuted. We need a similar protection around calling for help."

Currently, Helm said users were too scared to call for help, worried that police would arrive instead of an ambulance, and it was "costing people's lives".

Helm told Morning Report overdoses of these substances weren't uncommon.

People were just hearing more about this cluster because the police were speaking out on it.

"We have three people die every single week from New Zealand from accidental overdose."

Helm said while there was a small percentage of people in New Zealand who used G-ype drugs, they were "quite potent" and carried more harm that other substances.

She said she was attending a select committee on Wednesday with two mothers who had lost their children to drug overdoses.

They would be talking about a bill that was before Parliament that would protect people calling for help.

"They believe this sort of legislation would make all the difference."

She encouraged people to visit drug checking services to make sure they knew what they were taking.

Detective Inspector Anna Grant said police continue to investigate the matter as a priority given the risk to the public.

The work included working to identify if all cases were connected and where the supply came from.

"Police strongly urge the public to take extreme caution around drugs of this type.

"While it's safest not to use drugs at all, New Zealand's drug early warning system High Alert recommends at the very least getting substances checked before taking them," Grant said.