A second man has died in central Queensland after a suspected poisoning from a batch of synthetic cannabis.
The death of a 33-year-old man in Mackay on Tuesday and the admission to hospital of a 41-year-old man triggered a police investigation into recent incidents linked to the synthetics.
The older man died on Wednesday afternoon, police confirmed.
The Mackay Base hospital has seen an increase in the number of presentations for synthetic drugs use, health chiefs say.
“People need to be cautious about consuming these products where the ingredients are unknown,” Mackay hospital and health service boss Dr David Farlow said.
“These drugs pose a major risk to an individuals physical and mental health and the community.”
Experts said it would be difficult to determine the true nature of the products involved in the incident due to the rapid evolution of cannabinoids.
“Even if a drug has been previously identified and characterised, the way that the body metabolises it could make it undetectable by routine urinary drug screening,” senior Australian National University lecturer in medicine Dr David Caldicott said.
The Australian drugs market was in the middle of an evolutionary game of cat-and-mouse due to outdated approaches, he said.
“We need wittier and wiser responses to the problem of harm from drugs, if these deaths are not to become a more frequent occurrence in a generation of young Australians.”