Henry Kwan, 17, died on Thursday after jumping from the third floor balcony of his family home in Killara in Sydney’s north while high on synthetic LSD.
The tragedy prompted the NSW government to announce on Sunday a 90-day ban on a range of synthetic drugs and to call on federal authorities to outlaw them permanently.
Henry’s father Stephen Kwan said he was pleased the death of his son had raised awareness and propelled the government into action.
‘Although it is the death of my son, it raised interest and pressured the government and it will benefit a lot of families and a lot of young kids in the future,’ he told AAP.
Mr Kwan said ways of tightening controls so such substances could no longer be freely bought online were needed, but he acknowledged this would be difficult.
‘You never can stop (everyone) because the internet is difficult to control,’ he said.
But at least something will be done to make it harder to buy synthetic drugs from shops, he said.
Mr Kwan said many of Henry’s friends and classmates had come to pray for him, but his wife was still distraught and unable to eat.
‘My wife is still in deep sorrow,’ he said.
Source: Sky News Australia