RESORT EYES SALVIA'S SEQUEL

OC Officials Call for Expanded Law

OCEAN CITY -- Police and government officials in Ocean City are
taking a hard look at a new substance being sold in Boardwalk shops
that they say, when smoked, mimics the effects of marijuana.

Sold as incense or aromatherapy, the herbal substance has been
sprayed with chemicals meant to interact with the brain just like
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. In
Ocean City, it's available under brand names K2, Spice or Noella,
among others.

"It's synthetic marijuana, basically," said Police Chief Bernadette
DiPino. "I think we should eventually ban it."

The topic came up in a meeting of the resort's police commission.
DiPino said such a substance should be considered illegal because it
falls into the category of being an analog drug. Under federal law,
any substance meant to imitate something already classified as a
Schedule I drug is automatically illegal.

She also said it has been banned in 10 countries, and the active
components are Schedule I substances in Kansas, Kentucky and
Missouri. She recommended the town write letters to the handful of
retailers selling it and ask them to stop based on its analog status.

On the Boardwalk, retailer Sunset Beachwear doesn't have K2, but the
clerk showed off two other products -- under the brand names of
Jamaica Breeze and Noella Herbal Incense -- that he described as
being similar.

"It's the same as smoking the real" thing, said the man, who did not
give his name. He also said a 1.5-ounce packet of the herb sells for $45.

A few blocks south, between Wicomico and Somerset streets, the store
Beach Style sells several products under the names Blueberry Herbal
Hybrid Buds, Maui Hybrid and Wild Greens. Also visibly on display
was Purple Haze Spice and Goldeneye Spice, with a varying "bliss
factor" of 50X, 75X or 100X.

The website Legal buds.com ranked Blueberry Herbal as its third-best
"top legal bud," with a review telling consumers that it's
"extremely satisfying and of the absolute highest quality; the smoke
from this legal bud is sure to impress any herbal smoker."

Also at Beach Style, there were hookahs, glass pipes, lighters,
rolling papers, grinders with marijuana-themed packaging and
marijuana-themed plastic beads placed near the herbal incense display.

DiPino said a potential ban on K2 or other similar substances could
expand the illegality of such smoking devices sold in Ocean City. By
law, if a smoking device is sold with the presumption that it's
meant for an illegal substance, then police can seize it and
press drug paraphernalia possession charges.

Last summer, the town banned another hallucinogenic herb sold in the
resort: salvia divinorum.

Salvia is illegal in several U.S. states, including Virginia and
Delaware, and is said to give users a brief but intense out-of-body
high after being smoked. A bill banning it in Maryland this year
made it through the House but failed to pass the General Assembly.

Mayor Rick Meehan said Ocean City should expand its salvia ban to
include all hallucinogenic drugs.

"Every year as this is reinvented, the ordinance will meet the
test," he said. "Look, I'm sure it's the same shops, or pretty much
the same. I don't want to hear, 'nobody told us.' Certainly the
intent was to make sure we didn't have these types of substances
being sold on the Boardwalk. We did the right thing with salvia,
and I think we'd be doing the right thing here -- to make the case
that any drug of that nature is going to be considered illegal and
not allowed to be sold in Ocean City."

At the K2 website, the manufacturer insists that it sells incense
unfit for human consumption.

"K2 Incense is not meant to be consumed, just like White Out is not
intended to be huffed," it says under a category for media requests.
"K2 is not a chemical, it's a brand name protected by international
laws. K2 is not banned anywhere in the world. Certain ingredients,
which supposedly are contained in the mix have been banned in
several countries. So get your story straight!"