COUNTIES NEED TO MOVE FAST AND BAN 'SPICE'

If you're unfamiliar with the terms K2, Pep, Kind or spice, ask your
son or daughter who's in high school or college. Unfortunately, you
could probably ask your elementary student.

Chances are they know about it; perhaps they know someone who uses it.
Maybe they've got first-hand experience.

In a nutshell, spice is an herb mixture marketed as an incense laced
with a synthetic chemical that mimics the high produced by smoking
marijuana, but it's said to be 10 times more potent.

The mixture is sold under the names listed above, and can be bought
legally in most of East Central Indiana at some convenience stores,
gasoline stations or so-called "head" shops.

Henry County officials had the forethought to become the third county
in the state to ban the sale and public use of spice late last month.

Its sale and public use should be banned by the rest of the counties
in East Central Indiana, and state lawmakers ought to take up the
issue when they meet this January, and ban it statewide.

Users smoke spice to get their high, the active ingredient mimics THC
found in marijuana, but health officials warn it can lead to elevated
heart rates, hallucinations and other health problems, including
possible addiction.

Henry County commissioner Kim Cronk told The Star Press one
17-year-old spice smoker became violent. "He became so disoriented he
couldn't figure out how to unlock the (bathroom) door and he destroyed
the door."

John Huffman, the Clemson University organic chemist and his students,
created the high-producing compound JWH-018 in 1995 in the laboratory
as a biological experiment. It was never intended for human use, he
told The Indianapolis Star, but the genie is now out of the bottle.
The compound is manufactured overseas, usually in Asia, and mixed in
with herbs and marketed as meditation incense. It seems to do anything
but calm a person down.

What makes spice so scary is that little is known about the long-term
effects of using it, or whether it's addictive or physically harmful
and to what degree.

The issue should be at the top of the agenda in other counties for
immediate action. Without a widespread ban, it's too easy for spice
consumers to travel a short distance across a county line to legally
buy it.

Selling or publicly using spice in Henry County can result in a fine
of up to $1,000. The violation is an infraction and is not punishable
by jail time.

Other counties could craft ordinances based on Henry
County's.

The issue is so important that we urge counties to act before the
state gets involved. Although at least two state lawmakers plan to
introduce legislation in the next session to ban spice, there's no
guarantee a ban will pass, and even if it does, it might not take
effect until months after lawmakers go home.

We're not naive enough think a ban on sale and use will solve this
problem. Spice is going to join the list of illicit substances that
poison our society, such as crack, meth and heroin, and it will be
with us for the conceivable future. That genie is out of this bottle,
too.

But a ban will send the message that using spice carries a risk, both
legally and biologically. And if it keeps one person off the stuff,
then it will be worth the effort.