People are expected to gather on the corner of 16th Ave today to protest against legal highs in an attempt to get them banned.

The rally in Tauranga is part of nationwide protest throughout New Zealand where people will be standing outside shops selling legal highs and share their stories about the drug.

People protesting outstide a store in Te Puke last year. File photo.

The protest in Tauranga starts 1pm outside Discount Tobacco.

Rally organiser Renee Raynes is hosting the event because a friend's son killed himself after smoking synthetic cannabis.

Katie Bayliss' 23-year-old son Russell Harley Pataka, known as Harley to friends and family, died suddenly Monday, March 10. His death has now been referred to the Coroner.

Harley had been using synthetic cannabis before his death and Katie says she began getting messages from people about a week before he died with concerns about his state of mind.