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Father horrified by drug trade

The father of a Perth teenager who jumped off a balcony after taking synthetic LSD says he is alarmed Chinese companies are still pushing the deadly drugs into Australia and even boasting about the size of their customer base in WA.

Preston Bridge, 16, took an hallucinogenic called 25inBome after a school ball in February last year, which a classmate had bought on a clandestine website.

During a recent trip to China, his father Rod Bridge was horrified to discover the deadly chemical cocktails were widely available, and one company he contacted claimed Australia was a major market.

Mr Bridge is creating the Sideffect Foundation to educate teenagers and their parents about the dangers of synthetic drugs.

"It is really disheartening to think they can manufacture those products over there and sell them to Australia knowing it's illegal," he said.

WA Mental Health Minister Helen Morton said synthetic drug use in WA was higher than in other States, although it was not on the scale of illicit drug use.

Police have described the synthetic drug problem as "significant" and have seized substantial quantities of synthetic methylamphetamine, cannabinoids and cash in recent raids.

"As with the (illicit) drug trade, it is profit-motivated and it will continue to be a major issue while there is still demand," Acting Det-Sen. Sgt Scott Johnson said.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesman said they had seized numerous consignments of synthetic drugs sent from various countries.

There is little research about the effects of the chemicals on the human body and authorities say people often take synthetic substances with illicit drugs, adding to the dangers.

Use of synthetic cannabis and other psychoactive substances were included for the first time in the 2013 national drug strategy household survey. About 1.2 per cent of Australians over age 13 reported using synthetic cannabinoids, while 0.4 per cent had used another psychoactive substance.

Police and governments are facing the task of how to thwart the dealing of synthetic drugs through the internet and how to ban the dozens of new chemical compounds created.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey report said psychoactive products were emerging at an unprecedented rate globally as manufacturers replaced illegal chemicals.

Almost 348 new substances had been reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime by last year, most identified since 2008. Authorities are aware companies in China are among those trying to smuggle banned synthetic drugs into Australia through the mail.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the Government had created legislation to combat the problem.

Existing criminal laws banned drugs based on their chemical structure and authorities were playing "catch-up" as manufacturers changed the compounds, he said.

"We've now reversed the onus of proof so . . . rather than law enforcement agencies having to prove that the particular structure of a psychoactive substance is illegal, all psychoactive substances will be prohibited . . . unless the importer can prove they have a legitimate use," Mr Keenan said.

"Synthetic drugs are often marketed as safe or legal alternatives to illicit drugs.

"Tragically . . . they can be incredibly harmful, they can even kill people."

The State Government is also drafting reverse-onus legislation to ban the supply, sale, manufacture and promotion of any substance claimed to be psychoactive until it is approved by regulators.

Hundreds of synthetic hallucinogens, amphetamines and cannabinoid-type substances are listed on the WA Poisons Act and those convicted of possessing, selling or supplying those drugs face stiff penalties.