IOWANS BUY 'SYNTHETIC OPIUM'

But The Incense Product Is Unlikely To Yield A 'High'

Police say they have little power to stop people who buy and smoke incense
that is marketed as an illegal narcotic.

The incense, which police say looks similar to charcoal and is sold
as"synthetic opium," can be bought over the Internet. Police say its
popularity has grown this fall. Users, mostly young people, put the
substance on the ends of cigarettes before lighting up.

Des Moines police Sgt. Mark Buzynski said investigators initially
confiscated the incense when they found it. Samples sent to the state crime
lab showed no sign of an illegal substance. Opium, derived from poppies, is
an addictive narcotic that can be smoked.

Investigators say it is not known what effect, if any, the incense has on
people who smoke it.

"Some people say it doesn't do anything, and some people say it gives them
a high," Buzynski said. "It's all over, and it's a new thing."

A Pacific Junction man was arrested this year for shooting a Glenwood
teen-ager he believed had given opium to his daughter. The boy, Nick
Vasquez, and his brother had been charged with trafficking a simulated drug
when they were caught selling opium incense.

Karl Voll, 43, was sentenced Oct. 1 to 25 years in prison for shooting
Vasquez, who survived.

Products such as "herbal opium" are available on several Internet sites.
"Herbal ecstacy," marketed as a natural form of the popular "club drug,"
was a fad in the late 1990s.

Any high that users of the pseudo-drugs experience is probably imaginary,
said Sean McCullough, a special agent for the Iowa Division of Narcotics
Enforcement. He compares the fad to people who smoke marijuana, or "ditch
weed," found growing in the wild. The active ingredient is not present at
strong enough levels to cause intoxication, he said.

"Right now, you could go out and gather up some grass clippings and
somebody would buy it and use it," said Steven Conlon, a spokesman for the
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

In West Des Moines, police confiscated a black tar-like substance from a
group of teen-agers Sept. 21. Investigators are unsure whether the
substance is opium or opium incense, and plan to send it to the state lab
for tests.

Buzynski, the Des Moines investigator, said no matter where users are
getting opium incense - from the Internet, friends or dealers - "there's a
lot of it out there."