Photo: Kaskus
There is some “Good Shit” getting smoked in Indonesia. And police are warning the public that this Good Shit is unlike any drug they’ve seen before. In fact it’s so new to Indonesia, it’s still technically legal.
During a press conference earlier this week, the Yogyakarta police said the new form of narcotic was discovered after they arrested four people in a boarding house on August 24 for drug use, including one minor.
Although police believed they had been smoking marijuana, the results of urine tests on all four suspects came back negative for cannabis consumption.
Police investigators say they sent the herb-like plant they found on the four to a police forensic laboratory in Semarang.
Laboratory tests showed that the plants contained a compound called baicaline, which when consumed gives the user an effect like marijuana.
“The four of them were not held because the new type of drug is not included in the list of narcotics or psychotropic substances contained in Law No. 35 of 2009,” said Yogyakarta Police Director of Narcotics Investigation Commissioner Andi Fairan as quoted by Tribunnews.
Police said the users called the herbs Good Shit and they ordered them from a supplier in Bandung for Rp 230,000 per package.
Vivanews’ coverage of the Good Shit press conference
The police said they would coordinate with the Ministry of Health to have baicaline included in the list of narcotics and psychotropic substances criminalized by Act No. 35 of 2009.
(In our research, we could not find any reference online to a psychotropic substance called baicaline, although there is a flavonoid compound called baicalin that has been shown to have anti-anxiety effects on mice.)
Andi asked the public to be aware of the circulation of “Good Shit” throughout Indonesia, especially amongst children. “This product is known to have come from the United States, there is an herbal plant that is growing in use there, and in America it is also classified as an illegal substance,” the commissioner told Piiran-Rakyat.
It is possible that Andi was referring to a form of synthetic marijuana commonly known as “spice” that has become increasingly popular in the US over the last few years. Spice users can pass urine tests for cannabis but law enforcement agents say the drug can have dangerous health effects.
Although Indonesian police have just discovered Good Shit, we found forums on Kaskus discussing it back in early 2014.
(H/T Fergus and Cat!)
