Scores of people apparently desperate for their legal high fix formed long queues outside a Palmerston North retailer late on Friday and last night, as the store reopened after the public holidays.
Police also reported a spike in black market dealing of the drugs while retailers were forced to close their doors on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Photos of lengthy queues outside a Palmerston North store selling psychoactive substances circulated on social media over the weekend, drawing hundreds of comments about legal high regulation.
Police boosted their presence in the area and support services reported several legal-high related callouts over Easter.
Jellaire Gray drove past the R18 Express/Naked Pie Man store, on Fitzherbert Ave, early Saturday morning and estimated almost a hundred people waiting for it to open - a figure confirmed by police.
She returned 20 minutes later, and said people were still joining the queue.
Another man, who did not want to be named after being threatened while taking a photo of Friday night's queue outside the same store, said there were about 70 people lined up to get legal highs, plus people waiting in cars.
"They were parked up all the way down to near the entrance of The Plaza."
There were also people begging for money to pay for a fix, he said. After pulling his phone out to take the photo people became "quite aggressive", and the overall mood was "intimidating".
"I would certainly hope, if it's like that every night, the police will be doing something about it pretty urgently.
"I did jump on the phone and let them [the police] know about it, because it looked like there were going to be problems coming up in the very near future."
There was a cheer from some people as the store opened for business, and customers looked happy as they left, he said.
Legal highs retailer Shane Simpson said the store was closed on Good Friday and yesterday, Easter Sunday, in accordance with Easter trading laws. It reopened at 12.01am on Saturday and today.
The lines waiting to enter the store when it opened were no different to people queuing outside a bar, he said.
Simpson holds three interim retail licences to sell legal highs. He operates two of them, one in conjunction with the "Naked Pie Man" Leighton Haar.
The pair hired a security company to watch the store during the Easter shut-down periods and to let customers know the trading hours.
A security guard stationed outside the store said he advised at least 50 people yesterday of its hours when they turned up to find its doors closed. Police had bolstered their presence in the area, acting Sergeant Jason Turner said.
The customers weren't causing many concerns, but police fielded calls about suspicious dealings from cars near the store.
There were reports of people, including one man known to police, selling legal highs at twice the recommended retail price, and without a licence, to people turning up at the store to discover it was closed.
Simpson said it was concerning to know a black market was forming to plug supply shortfalls due to trading laws, but it was a matter out of retailers' control.
Police had taken video footage of the area to gauge its busiest times, the nature, mood and makeup of customers, including estimated ages, with plans to present it to the alcohol harm reduction officer, Turner said.
Street Van co-ordinator and city councillor Lew Findlay said the store's location between two bars was problematic. He had fielded two calls on Friday night from parents who were battling with teenagers on legal highs.
"We're fighting a losing battle, because the Government says it's legal and a lot of people think they're harmless, but they're not."
Last week, the Palmerston North City Council held off approving a draft Local Approved Products Policy, which would determine where legal-high shops could be located, to seek legal advice.
Source: Manawatū Standard
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