The DEA has implemented a temporary ban on the chemicals used to make synthetic marijuana, a.k.a. Spice or K2, effective Dec. 24. The chemical-drenched product was developed in response to prohibition of marijuana — and has proven more dangerous than natural cannabis. CrawfordOnDrugs’ David Robles explores the issue.

by David Robles

Cigarette smoke unfurling from his mouth, 23-year-old Kevin Tighe shakes his head and crosses his arms, the bong-lined shelves behind him eerily spotlighted in the fluorescent glow of the head shop. Packets and vials of synthetic marijuana are displayed in the glass case before him, but he says he hopes all of it will be gone in a few days.

“I will do whatever I can to help get this stuff off the street,” he says.

Tighe works at a shop in Tempe making and selling pipes, bongs and, until recently, synthetic cannabis commonly known as “Spice.” Sold as herbal incense and often labeled as “not for human consumption,” synthetic cannabis products like Spice and K2 have become increasingly popular, especially among teens and young adults. “Spice” is promoted as a safe and legal alternative to a marijuana, but the American Association of Poison Control Centers has received nearly 2,000 reports of people becoming ill after smoking synthetic cannabis products since the start of 2010, compared to about a dozen such reports in 2009.

The spike in poisonings has  prompted the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to use its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals used in the making of synthetic cannabis. A November 24 press release from the DEA specified that possessing or selling products containing the chemicals JWH-018; JWH-073; JWH-200; CP-47,497; and cannabicyclohexanol will be illegal in the United States for at least one year beginning Dec. 24 while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services studies whether “Spice” should be permanently controlled.

“These products have not been tested on people and because most evidence is anecdotal, it is important to do further research,” says Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the DEA. “You’re taking a chance with your physical and psychological health when you use [synthetic cannabis].”

Tighe explains the process for producing the synthetic cannabis once made in his smoke shop: Employees weighed out 56 grams of Pedicularis densiflora (commonly known as Indian Warrior herb) and sprayed it with a mixture of 40 mL of acetone and 3.6 grams of a chemical he calls “J-dub,” a moniker for one of any number of analgesic chemicals found naturally in cannabis including those recently banned by the DEA. The mixture is left to sit overnight, allowing the acetone to evaporate leaving only the “J-dub” coated potpourri.

Dr. John W. Huffman, the Clemson University organic chemist whose research is responsible for first synthesizing the many analogues of marijuana’s active ingredient Tetrahydrocannabinol, told the Associated Press in November that the chemicals “are dangerous and anyone who uses them is stupid.” According to Huffman’s Clemson University profile, his research through the National Institute on Drug Abuse focused on “the potential development of new pharmaceutical products and an exploration of the geometry of both the cannabinoid brain and peripheral receptors.” The chemicals began being used by manufacturers of synthetic cannabis in countries like China and Germany before eventually finding their way to the United States. Of the 450 synthetic cannabinoid compounds developed through his research, three will be illegal under the new DEA rule.

Although the effects of smoking synthetic cannabis are not widely known, reports include vomiting, seizures and hallucinations. Tighe says he believes it is also very addictive.

“[The shop] has been broken into three times; all three times our ‘Spice’ stash was cleared out but they didn’t break or steal anything else,” Tighe says. “They probably got away with $3,500 of product.” He attributes the theft to a gripping addiction to spice, noting that some customers buy more than two packets a week.

After the break-ins, shop security was tightened with extra locks, security cameras and an extra metal door. A thief attempting to break into the shop was caught on the new security cameras, his face recognizable to the shop employees as a returning “Spice” customer.

A young man in his early thirties, chatting with his mother-in-law over his cell phone, walks into the shop and buys a gram of King Krypto brand “herbal incense.” Tighe says the man, who is a regular, picks up a sparkling package adorned with the Rastafarian lion at least weekly. At an average of $20 a gram, synthetic cannabis can be purchased online, through magazines, smoke shops, head shops, and at some convenience stores and gas stations, raising worry for many parents.

On Dec. 2, parents and community members in Tempe, Ariz., attended an informational workshop on synthetic cannabis hosted by the Tempe Union High School District’s No Parent Left Behind University program. A speaker at the event, Stephanie Siete, Director of Public Relations for Community Bridges, Inc., says synthetic cannabinoids are between five to 15 times as potent as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

“The effects are not marijuana. They are much more intense,” Siete says. “The bottom line: People are getting really sick.”

Siete’s presentation on the dangers of synthetic cannabis included a video message from an Indianola, Iowa, family whose son committed suicide after suffering a “K2 induced panic attack” within an hour of smoking the fake pot back in June 2010.

Tempe Union High School District Associate Superintendent Gregory Wyman attributes the increasing number of “Spice”-related cases to curiosity and availability and says educating kids and parents is vital.

“Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s safe,” Wyman said. “[Designer drugs have] kind of grown exponentially and because everything is so new, it’s what makes education for parents and for kids so important.”

At the parent workshop, Mojgan Kavian says her eighth grade son at Kyrene Middle School met a boy on the bus who was put in time out for selling “Spice” he says was given to him by his older brother.

“It’s amazing how normal it is for that kid that he’ll tell [my son] on the bus about it,” Kavian says. “He told me it wasn’t a big deal. He said, ‘Mom, it’s legal.’”

In the final weeks before the official DEA ban on the chemicals used to make “Spice,”  Tighe says he will continue to offer the only advice his job allows him:

“Until it’s out of the store I tell my customers whatever they do with it when they leave the store is their business but it’s not for human consumption. I tell them I wouldn’t smoke it.”