A 17-year-old boy is dead and two men have fallen ill following a bad reaction to a synthetic cannabis known as "Chronic."
NSW Police have also issued a warning "of a dangerous substance" circulating around the Hunter region of New South Wales.
Synthetic cannabis, in this case branded as "Chronic", has been sold online since 2004 and is made with chemicals to create similar effects to cannabis. The chemicals that make up synthetic cannabis vary from batch to batch, similar to bath salts.
NSW Police said emergency services were called to a street after the body of 17-year-old Dean Shield was reportedly found in a drain. There has yet to be a post-mortem examination, but police have been told the teen took synthetic cannabis a few hours before his body was found.
Speaking to ABC News, Cessnock MP Clayton Barr said the drug was likely made by people "who aren't chemists."
"There is a massive uncertainty of that chemical mix that you are putting into your body. I wouldn't make some toast and put fly spray on it, but smoking synthetics you could be doing that."
In a separate incident, two men fell ill after also consuming the drug. They are currently being treated by healthcare professionals following a bad reaction, but their symptoms are not believed to be life-threatening.
Yesterday, police searched a house Rutherford and seized a quantity of "Chronic".
In 2013, 17-year-old schoolboy Henry Kwan died after taking synthetic drugs and leaping off of his family home's balcony, believing he could fly.