That’s according to a local nurse, who doesn’t want to be named for fear of reprisal. 

Average people including businessmen and women, athletes and miners are winding up in local psych wards and emergency departments after their “legal” high turns into a nightmare, the nurse said.

“It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before,” the concerned nurse told the Port News.

“People who have mental health issues and are taking these drugs are becoming more violent and psychotic than ever before, and those with no previous mental health problems are losing control.”

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In the past seven months, she said, the situation has escalated.

In Newcastle police have branded synthetic drug use as an “epidemic”.

NSW Police Port Macquarie have admitted the problem is of concern in the local area, and a state-wide ban on synthetic drug sales would be welcomed.

Violent rampages and terrifying behaviour are common in patients who admitted to consuming synthetic-drugs, the nurse said.

Her description of the dangerous effects of these substances – particularly White Revolver, a drug which mimics the effects of cocaine – were particularly sobering.

After taking the drugs people were presenting with out of control behaviours and manic violence similar to the comic-book monster the Hulk, she said.

“We’ve never seen this sort of violence before,” she said. “It’s just become such a huge problem – and the worst thing is it is taking our resources away from people who really need our help.”

Mental breakdown, death, seizures, kidney failure, hallucinations and panic attacks have all been linked to synthetic drug use, a recent parliamentary report revealed.

But synthetic drug users seemed to be of the opinion that those substances, because of their legal status, would not harm them.

A number of Port Macquarie stores openly sell the products. Groups of people, reportedly, wait for doors to swing open. Among them, the nurse said, many of her patients.

In Port Macquarie synthetic drug users were presenting with the same symptoms on par, if not worse than, those using illegal substances like heroin.

“It’s not just your typical drug-users either,” the nurse said. “It’s everyday people. Something needs to be done.”

The woman said she could not fathom how store owners could consciously sell a product which posed such a danger to the community and to individuals.