LEGAL 'MARIJUANA' RAISES LOCAL CONCERNS

Law enforcement and drug treatment agencies are stepping up alerts for
the newest drug to begin sweeping the country.

The drug is typically marketed as incense or potpourri and known by
such names as "K2," "Spice," "Genie," "Yucatan Fire," "Sence,"
"Smoke," "Skunk" and "Zohai."

It produces a similar high of marijuana but the problem for law
enforcement and others is that it is synthetic and completely legal in
New Jersey and can be easily obtained in smoke shops and on the Internet.

Detective John Walker, the narcotics officer in Mount Olive, said
individuals cannot be charged for possession or use of synthetic
marijuana. But they can be charged if they are found driving under the
influence of the drug.

People also can be charged with excessive use of synthetic marijuana
under the so-called "huffing" statute that also applies to such
materials as nitrous oxide and glue.

"Kids think they're home free with the synthetic marijuana but they're
not," Walker said.

Walker said too many people are willing to try virtually any kind of
chemical if they think they will get a high. He said he is not
surprised that individuals will inhale synthetic marijuana without
knowing its actual contents or effects.

The most distressing example he has seen of such careless actions was
a young man who was stopped in Mount Olive several years ago and found
inhaling gasoline fumes through a a tube that was connected to a can
of gasoline.

Lack Of Studies

There have been no long term studies of the health effects of
synthetic marijuana but officials have warned that it is impossible to
know the ingredients in the synthetic marijuana and that serious side
effects have been reported.

The Daytop drug rehab program in Mendham reported one high school
youth who suffered seizures after smoking K2.

The N.J. Poison and Information and Education Center has had similar
calls while the American Association of Poison Control Centers has
reports of more than 900 calls to poison control centers in 49 states,
including New Jersey, since July.

Complaints have included fast, racing heartbeat, elevated blood
pressure, nausea, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic episodes.

"It is easy to order over the Internet or in smoke shops but the long
term effects are unclear," said Ian Gershman, vice president of
treatment at Daytop. "We've begun seeing it in the last few months."

Gershman also said it is difficult to monitor use of synthetic
marijuana because it does not show up on drug screens.

"It is very, very difficult to monitor and we will be asking more
questions at intake," Gershman said.

Yet another difficulty for law enforcement is that the synthetic
marijuana does not have the distinctive sweet smell of burning
marijuana but instead smells like cloves, according to Chester
Township Sgt. Tom Williver.

"We're trained to pick up the smell of marijuana so we might not
notice the synthetic marijuana," said Williver, who is the
department's certified drug recognition expert.

"It seems that everything migrates from California and it's coming
here," Williver said. "If they're under the influence and can't drive,
we'll arrest them. But if not, it's not illegal, so what can we do?"

Dr. Steven Marcus, medical director of the N.J. Poison Information and
Education System, said the problem facing authorities is that new
illicit drugs are frequently developed.

"As fast as we get a handle on a designer drug and the DEA lists it as
illegal, some chemist finds a way to get around the rules," Marcus
said.

Synthetic marijuana, however, is not yet on the radar screen of some
police. In Washington Township, Lt. Arthur Adams said he wasn't
certain if there have been any reports of the drug while Mendham
Township Chief Steven Crawford said he had not heard of K2.

Purchasing synthetic marijuana is as simple as visiting a so-called
"head shop" or doing a Google Internet search. Dozens of companies
advertise K2 or similar products as incense selling at relatively low
prices. One offers "K2 Cherry" for $29.96 for three grams. Another
promises three grams of "K2 Summit" for $19.99.

Some websites have the caveat that they won't ship K2 to states with
prohibitions on its sale.

One site claims to be the "official K2 website" with "over 40 million
grams sold worldwide since 2009."

There also are bargains offered like one site that promises a free,
three-gram pack for every order over $70.

"Stock up while the product is available," the site says. "Get the
good stuff here."

John Huffman, a Clemson University chemist, first synthesized
marijuana in the mid-1990s. He called his new substance JWH-018, which
is structurally similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana,
according to press reports.

Since then the substance has been sprayed on incense and sold to be
inhaled or smoked.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency lists K2 as a "drug or chemical of
concern" but it is not a "scheduled" drug and therefore is not illegal.

K2 is illegal in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and
Missouri. Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and New York are also
considering a ban on K2. The substance also is banned in Britain,
Germany, Poland and France.

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, R-Monmouth, introduced legislation in
May to ban the use of K2 along with three cannabis-like chemical
compounds used to make the synthetic substance.

"Make no mistake, Spice or K2 poses an alarming and significant danger
to users," said Angelini, who is executive director of Prevention
First, a nonprofit agency that provides substance abuse prevention
programs to youth in Monmouth County.

She said K2 is the new drug of choice among teenagers.

"Having worked in substance abuse prevention for a good part of my
life, I know all to well the damaging effects marijuana and other
abused drugs have on users," she continued. "There's every reason to
believe the effects of synthetic marijuana are just as harmful.

She said she hopes for action on the bill this year.

A spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.,
people are at risk and use K2 only because marijuana is illegal.

"The only reason anyone uses K2 is because marijuana - one of the
safest psychoactive substances on earth - is illegal," said Mike Meno,
a spokesman for the project which supports legalization of marijuana.

"The problem is, we don't yet know the full health effects of K2,
because they haven't been studied. Marijuana, on the other hand, is
perhaps the most studied plant in history, one which former DEA law
judge Francis Young once said "in its natural form, is one of the
safest therapeutically active substances known to man." "