SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA HAS VERY REAL RISKS

While the ballot battle for and against medical marijuana grinds ever
closer to a conclusion, the debate has turned to synthetic cannabis.

Proposition 203 still is undecided - with 50.12 percent (790,468
votes) against and 49.88 percent (786,834) in favor. The difference is
3,634 votes, as of Tuesday morning, with an estimated 30,000 early
ballots and slightly fewer than 59,000 provisional ballots statewide
that are yet to be processed and counted, according to the Secretary
of State's website. (Only a difference of 200 or fewer votes would
trigger a recount, and no provision exists in state law allowing one
side or the other to demand a recount.)

In Tuesday's newspaper, we reported that police are seeing more and
more teenagers using an over-the-counter product generically known as
"spice." Its politically correct label is "incense" or an "herbal
smoking blend." It's better known as synthetic cannabis - an herbal
and chemical product that mimics the effects of marijuana.

Unfortunately, no official studies have been conducted on spice's
effects on humans. Though its effects are not well-documented,
extremely large doses can cause negative results that are generally
not noted in marijuana users, such as increased agitation and
vomiting, which the Courier's report noted. A 2009 study in Europe
reported a wide range - a single patient exhibiting withdrawal
symptoms, and another, psychosis.

With the jury still out on medical marijuana and full legalization of
pot - a natural, non-synthetic product - likely years away, the
prudent thing for lawmakers to do is ban sale of spice products in the
state of Arizona.

Many countries in Europe have already banned synthetic marijuana,
which first appeared in the European market in 2004 before spreading
across the Atlantic, according to The Associated Press. Spice still is
legal in Canada. Earlier this year, Kansas became the first state to
outlaw spice. Similar laws are under consideration in Georgia,
Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah.
However, after several incidents at military bases in Japan, the U.S.
government has banned the use of spice in all U.S. armed forces.

Short of banning it, lawmakers should treat it like other products
that youth use incorrectly, such as huffing paint vapors, by requiring
photo ID for purchase of the product. You would have to be an adult to
buy it and make the decision to use it. But that doesn't always work
either: A 28-year-old Indiana mother died in August after smoking a
spice product, according to Fox News.

The bottom line is the very telling conclusion from Professor John W.
Huffman, who first synthesized many of the cannabinoids used in
synthetic cannabis. He told CBS News in February, "People who use it
are idiots. ... You don't know what it's going to do to you."