'PEP SPICE' TARGETED

The owners of a Sturgeon Bay convenience store told the Door County
Advocate they stopped selling a controversial incense Friday, after
community members and representatives of Citgo Petroleum Corp.
expressed concern. But the store was still selling the product late
Tuesday afternoon.

CORRECTION: The Citgo American Petroleum station, 211 Michigan St. in
Sturgeon Bay, is not affiliated in any way with Qmart. The original
version of this story, which appeared in the Nov. 10, 2010, Door
County Advocate, misidentified the store. The Advocate apologizes for
the error.

Pep spice or K2 is marketed as an incense or potpourri on various
websites and in stores, but communities across Wisconsin have begun
banning the sale of it because of its alleged use as a legal
alternative to marijuana.

According to Amy Bremel, Door County Alcohol and Other Drug Coalition
coordinator, the incense is made up of a variety of herbs that have
been treated with a synthetic THC called JWH-018. THC is the main
chemical in marijuana.

There are no Door County ordinances or state laws that ban the sale or
use of K2 or synthetic marijuana. But the county and the state could
see some regulation soon.

Sturgeon Bay Police Chief Arleigh Porter said Officer Chris Utecht is
working on an ordinance to ban the sale of the substance that he will
present to the city government in the near future. Several cities,
including Eau Claire and Neenah, have already banned the incense.

Utecht said he also is planning to reach out to the Door County Board
on the matter.

"To me it doesn't make sense to outlaw it in the city and then have it
available out in the county," Utecht said.

The most important goal is keeping synthetic marijuana out of the
hands of children, he said.

Utecht explained that pep spice, K2, summit, etc., are all considered
synthetic marijuana and the compound JWH-018, which is either sprayed
or sprinkled on to the product, has addictive qualities and can have
an adverse impact on a user's health.

"This is not just something that will get you high; there are other
symptoms here," he said. Increased paranoia is one side effect, and
synthetic marijuana also produces a higher incidence of seizures,
tremors, and increased heart rate, Utecht said.

"I'd like to see us (Door County) ahead of the curve, telling our
local business owners it's not OK" to sell K2, Utecht said.

Local sales continuing

On Thursday a reporter from the Door County Advocate purchased about
3.5 grams of K2 from the American Petroleum convenience store and
Citgo station, 211 Michigan St., Sturgeon Bay, for about $10. The
clerk first asked for identification to confirm that the reporter was
18 or older.

The material, packaged in a small, blue plastic box marked "Blue
Dragon," resembles a mix of dried flowers, leaves and twigs.

A quick Internet search for Blue Dragon reveals various warnings about
the product. The packaging also clearly states the product is "not for
human consumption." One website stresses that those buying the incense
should not even light it up.

Linda Ezell, customer service manager for Citgo, said in a phone
interview that the company =C2-- which does not own any franchises =C2=97
urged
the Michigan Street store to take action after it received an e-mail
from Steve Cromell, Sevastopol's school administrator, about the sale
of the incense at the Michigan Street location.

Cromell's concerns about K2 were forwarded to an area salesman who
works with the franchises that are serviced by Quality State Oil of
Sheboygan, Ezell said.

Scott Stangel, wholesale marketing manager for Quality State Oil, said
he visited the store and spoke with co-owner Sam Goel Sr. about taking
the product off his shelves.

In a phone interview Monday, Stangel said he realized immediately that
the Sturgeon Bay community has been supportive of Quality State Oil
and the company wanted to return that support by helping promote the
community's drug-free message.

"I have to commend the Sturgeon Bay community for stepping up and
working with the local business community to make sure that kids are
protected," Stangel said.

The store discontinued sales of K2 on Friday after hearing from
Quality, Goel said Monday.

"We have stopped selling it because Citgo contacted us that this is
not in the favor of society," he said when reached by phone Monday.
"We understand that it is not against the law, but for the sake of
society we stopped."

But a second Advocate employee was able to purchase a container
Tuesday afternoon, this time packaged as "Mr. Smiley."

Coincidentally, the customer in front of the newspaper employee, and
the customer behind the employee, also purchased Mr. Smiley.

"I don't know about this, but I will look into this matter," Goel said
Tuesday evening.

Goel said he received no complaints from local groups or parents about
his establishment selling the product. He declined to identify the
store's K2 distributor.

Goel's son, also named Sam Goel, who is also an owner, denied the
sales were continuing.

When contacted by the Advocate on Tuesday the younger Goel said that
he had been in the Sturgeon Bay store all afternoon.

Asked if the store had K2, pep spice or a product called "Mr. Smiley"
on the premises, the younger Goel insisted, "No, we do not."

Lab test is expensive

Porter has also been in contact with state Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister
Bay, who is drafting legislation that, if passed, would make synthetic
marijuana illegal in Wisconsin. Bies said he began working on the
legislation after he received several phone calls from concerned
constituents about K2.

Many feel that an ordinance will not solve the pep spice
problem.

Neither authorities nor the state of Wisconsin has any way of testing
for K2, said Joan Korb, Door County assistant district attorney.

"For marijuana there are very inexpensive street tests that police can
use," but there isn't one for pep spice, Korb said. The only lab that
can test for K2 is in Pennsylvania, and the tests cost more than $300,
which leads Korb to wonder how an ordinance would be enforced.

Utecht said that eventually the state would have a way to test for the
substance, but as with any new drug the testing hasn't caught up yet.

There are also a lot of unknowns associated with pep
spice.

"It is a substance to alter the mind and body. It is a drug, but right
now it is still legal and how harmful it is we're not sure," Bremel
said. There is no uniformity in how the synthetic THC is produced, and
no one can know for certain what a particular formulation may contain,
she said.

Amber Vogels of Open Door Youth Services heard about it first from one
of the children she works with.

"This youth has told me that she had tried it with a bunch of her
friends," Vogel said. "That it was a recreational thing, and that they
didn't have a problem getting it.

"What I hear is that it's very harsh and smokes like marijuana,"
Vogels said. The girl described feeling "weird" after smoking it.

Christine Nesheim and Warren Bluhm contributed to this story.