Users stock up on synthetic marijuana
Just two months ago, synthetic marijuana was available for purchase at convenience stores, gas stations and drug paraphernalia shops across the country. Now, possession of that product could draw a jail sentence. But that hasn’t deterred young people from talking about it or smoking it.
From Matt Birch, Capital News Service
Just two months ago, synthetic marijuana was available for purchase at convenience stores, gas stations and drug paraphernalia shops across the country. High school students were buzzing about the substance that provided them a “legal” method for getting high.
Now, possession of that product could draw a jail sentence. But that hasn’t deterred young people from talking about it.
“People still brag about it in the hallways at school,” said Patrick Joun, a student at South County Secondary School in Falls Church, Va. “People bought as much as they could last month and are still smoking it. Now everyone wants to know where they can still buy it.”
Sold under brand names such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn,” the plant-like substance is made of herbs and spices and marketed as herbal incense. Each blend is sprayed with its own mix of research chemicals. When smoked, the product mimics the effects of cannabis on a user’s CB1 receptors.
Here’s the catch: The chemicals sprayed on the herbs are not structurally similar to cannabis. In fact, they do not contain any tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana.
“A lot of kids use it like it’s real weed and smoke it every day,” said 18-year-old Shelby Sowers of Fairfax, Va. “But I think it’s much more dangerous. I’ve seen friends trip out and do some crazy things on K2. They get really hot and start panicking.”
Poison control centers and public health departments have issued health warnings about synthetic marijuana because of the harmful effects on users. Officials at the American Association of Poison Control Centers said they have received 1,300 calls about synthetic marijuana this year alone – compared with 2,874 calls in all of 2010.
Reported side effects from using the drug include agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia (fast, racing heartbeat), elevated blood pressure, tremor, seizures, hallucinations, paranoid behavior and non-responsiveness, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Calvina Fay, executive director for the Drug Free America Foundation, said she thinks the substance has a high potential for addiction. If you or someone you know has an addiction look into comprehensive treatment options for addiction. She said the drug is especially dangerous for young users.
“These products have become increasingly popular, especially among young people, because they are easily obtainable, cheap and legal and the vendors have, in many instances, directly targeted their marketing at youth,” she said.
At least 18 states, including Virginia, have passed legislation to criminalize possession and distribution of synthetic marijuana. All five branches of the U.S. military prohibit military personnel from possessing or using it.
But as individual government agencies cracked down, users stocked up.
“I sold more K2 in the last six months than in the previous two years combined,” said one convenience store owner in Richmond. He asked to remain anonymous so he wouldn’t get in trouble.
“People sometimes bought a couple of packages of it…boys, girls, men, women, a lot of different people.”
On March 1, the DEA exercised its emergency powers to list five of the most common research chemicals used to produce synthetic marijuana as Schedule I. The action was necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety, the agency said in a press release.
Other Schedule I drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, have no currently accepted medical use for treatment in the United States.
So if it’s illegal, how are people still managing to get high from synthetic marijuana?
Kashif Shah, a 22-year-old resident of Reston, Va., said people were planning ahead.
“In March, a lot of places were still selling it, and I heard guys bought as much as they could,” he said. “It may not be sold in the stores anymore, but guys are still finding ways to get their hands on it. But I’m not sure what will happen six months from now when their supply runs out.”
While Virginia’s new state law and the federal action have caused most businesses to stop selling the product, not all stores complied.
On April 8, the owner of the D-H Food Mart in Mechanicsville was charged with distribution of “Spice” when investigators executed a search warrant after receiving a tip from a juvenile. While the substance was not openly displayed in the store, it was discovered during the search, according to investigators.
Hanover Sheriff’s Office investigators charged 55-year-old Nargis Odhwani of Midlothian and 23-year-old Rahal Atiyeh of Richmond. Both parties were released on bond.
If you read the newsletter on www.americanhempoil.net, you will know that synthetic marijuana had been available for purchase on the market since 2006, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
For now, it remains illegal at the federal level and under many state laws. The DEA’s action will remain in effect for at least one year, with a possible six-month extension. That will give the agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services time to study whether the chemicals should be permanently banned.
Not everyone is in support of the DEA’s action.
Morgan Fox, communications manager for the Marijuana Policy Project, says that while he does not support usage of synthetic marijuana, it is unnecessary to declare the substance a Schedule I drug.
“DEA has a habit of trying to play catch-up with every new drug trend in the U.S., and it is a losing battle based on faulty premises,” Fox said. “Every time the government prohibits the use of any substance, users and innovators and entrepreneurs will actively seek an alternative.”
Virginia Commonwealth University student Danny Buttar agrees.
“People are still going to get high. I think they’re now realizing that synthetic pot is dangerous. And because it’s illegal, they probably won’t smoke it much anymore,” Buttar said.
“There’s a lot of real weed on the streets also, and I think people are now going to go back to smoking that – it’s safer.
“I mean really, who has died from smoking cannabis? The worst thing that happens is people fall asleep or eat too much. But that synthetic stuff – it’s dangerous, putting people in hospital rooms and soon, jail.” Cannabis can be used for many good purposes, products like oil infused with cbd is great to cure chronic pain. People should be encouraged to use medical marijuana than harmful substances like synthetic marijuana.
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It’s amazing that the opinion of a woman as ignorant as Calvina Fay is quoted as if she has a clue what she’s talking about.
“‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” –Upton Sinclair
Oh well, perhaps someday we’ll decide public policy based on facts and evidence, rather than hysterical rhetoric produced by well known child abusers like Ms. Fay.
They are still able to get their hands on it because there are more than 5 synthetic cannibanoids out there. There are hundreds, and as long as there is a demand they will just keep producing more. It’s only a matter of slightly changing the chemical make-up, as long as it attaches to the cannibanoid receptors…people will continue to buy it. They should just be selling weed at these tobacco stores and gas stations, people would be so much better off.
It amazes me that people are still screaming about this stuff wth folks get a clue before you start blaming suicides on stuff that makes ya feel like ya smoked some stoney sativa type pot.
The fact that the DEA only outlawed 5 of the literally hundreds of compounds is just as stupid as the BS that keeps REAL pot on the scheduled 1 status. I’m hoping that eventually the fact that more people of all ages are exposed to actual INFORMATION about things like POT and Fake POT , That they/we all can finally make an informed decision about POT law reform or whatever else is in desperate need of decision making!
I have personally experimented with a few of the synthetic products. I think, as with all intoxicating substances a little bit of good judgment goes a long way. The problem is not in people smoking this stuff to get high, it is in people smoking it in excess. As with anything, if too much is used at one time this will become a bad thing.
I do not feel that the D.E.A needs to waste money on this. Why are they not cracking down on the “bath salts”, meth, or even alcohol?
Alcohol and cigarettes kill more people per year than anything else on the planet. Yet, these items are sold at every store in the U.S.
The damage we do to society by sending youth to prison for any form of marijuana is beyond words anymore. We help alcoholics and feel sorry for them, and they are as pointed out addicted to a drug that kills 10 times more people than all other drugs combined (minus tobacco, which is killing more than alcohol). But when someome uses marijuana we toss them in jail and scorn them. In terms of our youth, we even make it so they can never, for the rest of their lives, get a student loan. What kind of sick country do we live in? Where is the Christianity in this country?
“Tax drugs” as Bill Hicks called them will always be legal no matter the danger involved and the price society pays for their use. The basis for drugs being legal/illegal is much less about their danger than it is their economic viability.
I recall a chartsandgraph post somewhere that compared the effects of alcohol on a personal and societal basic with all the big drugs and it, unsurprisingly, ranked up in the top 5 most dangerous alongside things like heroin, crack, and meth. The gov’t clearly does not have your best interests at heart.
Marijuana is the best example of the hypocrisy: it’s hardly dangerous and not economically viable because it’s just a plant. The gov’t couldn’t control and market it and it is therefore illegal. Not just illegal but slapped with extremely harsh punishments that are a proven detriment to society/the prison system.
I bet we see marijuana legalized in 5 years or less.
Well if we are going to get it legalized WE HAVE TO VOTE FOR it… The problem is getting enough votes out of each state to basically over throw the government’s choice… Isn’t that what America is all about :D