FAKE POT NOT YET MAJOR PROBLEM ON THE KENAI

On a drizzly October afternoon, a man in his 50s walked into the small
Tobacco Express and Accessories store wearing square glasses, a black
baseball cap and dark jeans. He works in the oil industry and wanted
something to help him unwind on a day off.

"I'm interested in the Spice," he told Steve Stuber, who stood behind
the store's counter. "I'm new at this."

Below Stuber, in the store's most prominent display case, an array of
small Spice packages glistened. Some, like Judgment Day, are decorated
with skulls and others, like Serenity Now, with a sparkly neon coating.

The store sells 10 varieties of Spice, incense not meant for human
ingestion that is commonly used as a legal and non-detectable
alternative to marijuana.

The oil worker wanted the most "bang for his buck." Magic Silver,
which sells for about $15 per gram, wasn't going to cut it. Stuber
recommended a mid-range potency, but the customer didn't bite. He
opted for Judgment Day, which costs about $25 per gram.

"So you're going to go home, relax, not head out to the bar and start
fighting people?" Stuber asked the customer, clearly trying to suggest
that Spice is less dangerous than alcohol.

"Oh yeah. The only thing that gets murdered is a pizza," the customer
said. He walked out the door, and with that, another person introduced
himself to the controversial compound.

Spice, also called K2, Blaze, Mojo and Spike, has been getting a lot
of attention in Anchorage recently because a few teenagers have been
hospitalized after smoking it. Anchorage police were also befuddled
when several incidents earlier this year involved people who were
obviously impaired, but blood and breath tests came up empty. The
individuals later told police they had been smoking Spice.

Anchorage schools sent out a warning to parents about the substance,
which is legal for minors to purchase, and the Anchorage Assembly
recently introduced an ordinance asking local retailers to voluntarily
stop selling the many variations of the product.

The drug has been getting less attention on the Kenai Peninsula. While
some shops refuse to sell it, others emphasize it. Police and school
leaders say they are aware of it, but have not yet seen it cause any
serious problems. Local substance abuse specialists warn it is here
and it is cause for concern.

Spice is essentially a mistake, according Jennifer Messick, an
Anchorage Municipal prosecutor who has become something of a state
expert on the substance. In the mid-1990s, scientists were hoping to
create a synthetic form of medicinal marijuana that produced some of
cannabis's positive effects and eliminated the negative effects. That
led to early versions of Spice, according to Messick.

Scientists tested the blends and found devastating results, so they
threw them away. But before long, "basement scientists" recreated the
accidental concoction and began to market it, according to Messick.

Spice is a plant material, resembling pot, and is sprayed or soaked in
synthetic chemicals that, when ingested, mimic the effects of THC.
Spice is usually smoked but can also be swallowed.

The long-term health risks have not yet been studied, but in the
short-term, Spice can knock a user unconscious, cause paranoid
hallucinations and shoot a person's blood pressure way up, according
to Messick.

"Anytime you have those things present, you have a very real risk of
dying," Messick said.

More than 100 varieties of synthetic cannabinoids exist and seven
different types have been found in Spice, according to Messick. The
most common is four times as potent as THC but other compounds in
Spice can be 800 times as potent, depending on how tightly they bind
to a person's cannabis receptors.

Spice is also about twice as expensive as marijuana, according to
Messick, ranging in price from $15 to $40 per gram, depending on potency.

Ten states have banned Spice, and some Alaska legislators are pushing
for a ban here. Spice has not been directly attributed to any deaths,
but Messick said the first might have recently occurred in Montana.
Investigation in the case is ongoing. Messick also said preliminary
detection kits have been developed.

The product is gaining popularity among military members, people with
jobs that regularly drug test and teens, according to Messick.

Heidi Embley, a spokeswoman for the Anchorage School District, said
school leaders distributed information about Spice at the request of
police and other legal authorities.

"We were talking to the Anchorage Police Department and they wanted us
to spread the word about it, as did the municipal attorney's office,"
Embley said. "They want to warn people about using it and its dangers."

Embley said the warning is preventative, not reactionary.

"If you compare it to common drug usage it's way at the bottom,"
Embley said. "We just wanted to get ahead of it."

While synthetic marijuana products have made their way to the Kenai
Peninsula, local authorities say they have not yet dealt with any
major problems relating to the substance.

"It is something that we're seeing. I wouldn't say it's super common.
I think we find more marijuana than we do K2 or Spice," Alaska Bureau
of Highway Patrol Sgt. Eugene Fowler said. "It's not extremely common.
Not here right now that I'm aware of. We haven't been dealing with it
that much."

Sgt. Scott McBride, with the Kenai Police Department, also said he
hasn't dealt with synthetic marijuana all too often.

"It's so relatively new," McBride said. "It's in the cannabinoid
family, but I don't know too much else about it."

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is aware of the substance
but has not had to address problems relating to it, according to Sean
Dusek, assistant superintendent of instruction.

"There have not been any incidences in the schools at this time, but
we are being vigilant to ensure safety of our students," Dusek said.

Kristie Sellers, the director of behavioral health at Central
Peninsula Hospital, said Spice has become mainstream amongst drug
users, but is not yet part of society's mainstream. Sellers said half
of the kids she works with, kids who are being treated for drug
addiction, have admitted to consuming Spice.

"More than anything it's something that we've been unprepared for,"
Sellers said. "Spice seemed to be here before we knew it. It just
arrived, and it arrived everywhere."

Lucky Raven Tobacco stopped selling Spice after ordering a shipment at
a customer's request, according to the shop's owner, Patricia Patterson.

"When I made this decision, I made it for a variety of reasons,"
Patterson said. "My gut just said I wasn't comfortable selling it for
many reasons."

But Tobacco Express continues to sell it, though not to minors. Lucky
Raven actually refers potential Spice customers to the small shop on
the Sterling Highway.

"I believe these are far more dangerous," Stuber said, holding up two
packs of cigarettes. I truly believe that. Just look at the research
that's been done."

Stuber has a friend in Duluth, Minn., who also owns a smoke shop. The
Duluth City Council passed an ordinance in August banning the sale of
synthetic marijuana. But Stuber's friend, Jim Carlson, filed a lawsuit
and the city opted to no longer enforce the ban.

Stuber says he would also fight any local ban that came down. Kenai
Peninsula Borough Assembly President Gary Knopp said the product is
not yet on the body's radar.

"If it isn't this, it's going to be something else," Stuber said. "Why
can't consenting adults be left the hell alone?"

Rather than banning every new product that comes to market, Stuber
said lawmakers should consider legalizing marijuana. That would make
all the knockoffs disappear, according to Stuber.

How quickly?

Stuber snapped his fingers. "Like that."