CITY COUNCIL SHOULD APPROVE SPICE BAN

The city council should approve an ordinance to ban the sale of the
synthetic marijuana drug known as K2, or spice, at tonight's meeting.
Under the ordinance, any business that sold spice would be fined $250.

The drug was easily available to West Lafayette residents until local
police issued a letter to the Citgo gas station at 101 W State St. and
Amused at Chauncey Hill officially requesting that they cease and
desist the sale of spice. Both businesses complied.

Spice was widely popular because users experienced a similar high to
the one experienced after smoking marijuana, yet they could buy and
carry it legally and drug tests did not detect it.

Although the high is similar to a marijuana high, there has been
considerably less research done on the synthetic version of the drug.
It is sold as an incense and labeled not for consumption.

Users of the synthetic drug simply cannot understand the full effects
of inhaling the smoke produced by lighting and inhaling spice.
Consumers should not be able to purchase and use any drug that has not
been tested for short and long term side effects.

Local officers who have dealt with students who were under the
influence of spice have said these people acted differently than
students high on marijuana. While an officer's word is certainly not a
scientific test, until further research exists the city council should
not allow the drug to be sold without understanding how people react
when under its influence.

Even if the council passes a bill banning this specific synthetic
marijuana, a new, chemically altered version may become available
shortly after. Although it is discouraging that a new version could be
on the market tomorrow, it should not prevent the council from banning
the currently available synthetic marijuana tonight.