FEARS OVER LEGAL HIGH

Herbal Blend Four Times More Potent Than THC

Sitting behind a glass case on the counter of Less Smoke Shop on
Eureka Way in Redding is a marijuana alternative that is potent, won't
show up on drug tests and is perfectly legal.

It's called Black Mamba.

Sold in round, quarter-ounce, clear plastic containers, the substance
looks similar to the dried herbs Aunt Molly would stir into her
spaghetti sauce. But officials say the herbal blend has the power to
increase blood pressure, cause paranoia, agitation, hallucinations and
get users very, very high.

In the Midwest, where the substance is almost as popular as the real
deal, according to news reports, people have started showing up in
emergency rooms with stomach pain, severe agitation requiring
sedation, intense hallucinations and in some cases seizures after smoking it.

Black Mamba is made of dried damiana plants sprayed with a synthetic
cannabinoid known as JWH-018 and sold as herbal incense labeled "not
for human consumption."

The ingredient was created in a chemistry lab in the '90s by John W.
Huffman and mimics the effects of THC on the brain, Shasta County
Public Health Officer Andrew Deckert said in an e-mail.

Deckert said none of the researchers intended for the compound, which
is four times more potent than THC, to be ingested or smoked and it
has never been tested on people. Despite that, two health risks are
evident.

"Obviously, anything smoked is bad for your lungs and most
psychoactive substances are not good for driving," he said.

Deckert said the materials are labeled not for human consumption to
get around the Federal Analogue Act, which banned compounds chemically
similar to controlled substances that are intended for human
consumption.

The U.S. Department of Justice listed the compound as a "chemical of
interest" in July 2009 but noted it is not a controlled substance in
the U.S.

Since 2008 nine European countries have banned JWH-018.

Kansas banned it in March and state legislatures in Missouri,
Illinois, Utah, Kentucky, Georgia, North Dakota and Tennessee are
moving in that direction. The California State Assembly and Senate
haven't seen any such legislation, said Bill Bird, spokesman for Sen.
Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley.

"There's nothing that we have on the books in terms of legislation
that we've been able to find on this," he said. "Nobody has brought
this to Sen. Aanestad's attention."

While he can't say if other state senators are familiar with the legal
weed, he said the Record Searchlight's inquiry was the first they'd
heard of it.

Even those who sell Black Mamba spice in the north state don't have a
good understanding of the herbal blend.

Bawa Amarjit, who owns Less Smoke Shop, said he started selling Black
Mamba in March but doesn't know much about it.

"I heard it was the new stuff," he said, suggesting it'd be popular
and fresh.

The 1 gram units sell for close to $17 each including tax at the
shop.

While Black Mamba is labeled "100% High Quality Damiana," Deckert said
tests have shown that sometimes even the herbs themselves are unknown.

"Labs have tested these synthetic marijuana incenses and found the
plants they said were in there weren't in there," he said. "We don't
even know what plants they're putting in there."

In Red Bluff, Subculture Manager Miranda Rominski said 10 to 20
companies have called her over the past few months trying to sell
their own spice blend product but it's the customers who convinced her
to consider ordering her first shipment.

"If someone hears about it they'll want to try it out of natural
curiosity," she said.

Rominiski said some customers have told her they like it while others
thought it was terrible.

"Word gets around quick if one person likes it or one person thinks
it's crazy," she said.

Rominiski said she's still debating it.

One of the most attractive traits of the drug, aside from its high
potency, is the fact it won't show up on drug tests -- making it
appealing to teens and parolees.

Ryan Johnson, assistant principal at Foothill High School, said he
first heard about the spice mixture from another Shasta County
educator and researched it on his own.

"No problems as of yet, fingers crossed, but it's just a matter of
time before it crops up," he said.

Shasta High School Principal Milan Woollard said his high school
hasn't seen it yet either, but faculty members are preparing
themselves nevertheless.

Woollard said if the spice blend is encountered on campus it will be
met with the same disciplinary process as any illegal drug.

"It's the same as anything else whether it's a drug or a look-alike
drug," he said.

Local law enforcement officers are also on the lookout.

Redding Police Chief Peter Hansen said he first talked about the
substance with drug agents a few months ago. So far the police haven't
received any complaints, but that doesn't mean it isn't a concern, he
said.

"If it is mind-altering then, yes, it's a concern," he said. "Any
product that can be consumed that can cause some level of intoxication
should be controlled and regulated to protect the public."

Hansen said if it's being marketed without regulations or testing
that's an issue as well.

Then again, he said, people will abuse all kind of substances to get
high.

"There's a lot of substances that people abuse like gasoline or
sniffing glue," he said.

Shasta County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Foster, who heads the North State
Initiative California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement
Team, said he and other drug agents were briefed on the substance but
haven't encountered it while serving any search warrants.

"I think it's so new it's not up on anyone's radar yet," he
said.

Deckert said while there are significant health concerns associated
with spice, the full extent is unknown because the substance itself
remains largely unknown. His advice to people wanting to try it is
simple:

"Don't do it."

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FACTS ABOUT JWH-018:

Likely to have the same effects in humans as THC.

Has been used in basic scientific research to identify cannabinoid
receptors in the brain.

Decreases overall activity and body temperature, relieves pain, causes
muscle rigidity.

Likely to produce psychoactive effects in humans.

Not controlled under the Controlled Substance Act.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

BRANDS OF 'SPICE'

containing JWH-018:

Black Mamba

Spice

K2

Mojo

Pep

King Krypto