There are fears among the community that drug users could turn to more dangerous chemicals in a bid to avoid testing positive for illegal substances in their system.
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It has been revealed synthetic cannabis cannot be easily detected in saliva tests, as the structure of the chemical is constantly changing.
A 17-year-old Hunter Valley boy died late last month after it is believed he consumed a chemical version of cannabis.
It prompted Hunter Valley police to warn residents of a lethal batch of synthetic cannabis circulating in the area.
Wagga Local Area Command Highway Patrol boss, Senior Sergeant Wayne McLachlan, said police efforts to get illicit drug users off the road will continue unabated.
“At the end of the day, people should not consume prohibited substances and drive,” Sergeant McLachlan said.
“The main goal is to keep people under the influence of illegal drugs off our roads.”
The Drug Detection Agency Riverina director Greg Higgins said workplaces that use urine testing can detect synthetic cannabis as well as other illicit substances.
He said one of the main concerns with people taking synthetic cannabis was that there was no way of telling what was in the concoction, saying people who made the drug sprayed a chemical compound on to a plant substance, which resembles natural marijuana.
“(The active ingredient) Tetrahydrocannabinol in synthetic cannabis is functionally similar to natural cannabis,” Mr Higgins said.
“But it can cause an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, high anxiety levels, unlike naturally occurring (THC), which is more of a depressant.”
Other adverse symptoms can include paranoia, brain swelling, nausea, seizures, aggression, and chest pain.
Mr Higgins added workplace testing was different to police roadside testing.
“Testing in a workplace is for risk of impairment,” he said. “Police are testing to detect if an illegal drug has been consumed.”
Mr Higgins said oral testing could detect synthetic cannabis, but it was a costly procedure to update drug kits to keep up with the ever-changing structure of the chemical.
Oral testing can detect substances for two to 12 hours after consumption. Urine testing can detect up to five days.
The NSW government outlawed synthetic cannabis use in 2013 after a number of deaths across the state.
But concerns remain that some manufacturers have been working around legislation by changing the composition of the chemicals used in making the drug and selling it online and in bricks-and-mortar businesses.
