DRUGS: NEW SPICE

Just as medical marijuana approaches the cusp of general acceptance --
the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will permit
patients to smoke pot in states that allow it -- a synthetic form of
the drug has gained popularity for recreational use, and states are
scrambling to outlaw the new drug, variously known as spice, K2, and a
few other terms.

Peddled as novelty incense -- wink, wink -- spice consists of an
herbal blend treated with synthetic cannabinoids. Poison-control
centers have taken hundreds of reports of bad reactions, some of them
in Virginia. Two young men in Blacksburg recently were hospitalized
for vomiting and rapid heartbeat and (in one case) seizures.

The designer drug has raised concern among state leaders, who remain
opposed to even modest and sensible changes in drug policy: This year
a House subcommittee quickly dispatched a measure to expand the use of
medical marijuana, for instance, and dealt equally swift judgment
against another bill to decriminalize marijuana possession.

The hard-nosed approach seems to have had little effect on demand --
witness the huge stash discovered this summer in Caroline County --
and it's an open question whether going after pot users represents the
best use of scarce law-enforcement resources. But as the proliferation
of K2 and problems related to it show, the unregulated market in
recreational drugs presents hazards. Virginia -- indeed, the entire
U.S. -- needs to find a rational solution that permits public agencies
to protect public health and discourage drug use, without turning
people into felons for the kind of youthful experimentation admitted
to by, among others, President Obama.