WILL SPICE GO ON THE BLACK MARKET?

As the federal government moves closer to controlling spice, law
enforcement officers in Utah believe it's likely a half-hidden
industry that's producing it will attempt to go underground.

Spice, as it is commonly called, is an herbal concoction mixed with
various chemicals that some people smoke to get a marijuana-like high
and is sold under several different names, including K2, Blaze and the
Wacky Weed. Most of the products are labeled as incense and not for
human consumption.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced it
would take control within a month of five chemicals often found in
spice products. But peace officers worry producers will create a black
market for spice, or use one or more of the chemicals not on the DEA
list to make it.

Sgt. Scott VanWagoner, of the Unified Police Department, points out
that his agency, like others, has already been keeping its eye on
spice production. VanWagoner believes the producers are stocking up to
prepare for the possibility of it becoming illegal. His department
knows of at least one spice lab in Salt Lake County.

"We believe they are engaging in buying a large amount of plant
material," said VanWagoner, who called the federal effort a welcome
addition in the effort to control spice.

The officer in charge of the narcotics unit for the Salt Lake City
Police Department, Lt. Mike Ross, said his agency has yet to become
aware of any spice labs.

But Ross believes it's possible that an after-market will spring up
in Utah should the Legislature ban it. A 14-year veteran with the
narcotics team, Ross has been surprised at the growth of the product.

"I have never received so many calls of concern as I have with
spice," Ross said.

In the past year, there have been two citations for driving under the
influence connected to spice, according to Ross. But he adds that most
of the emergency calls about spice his department has received in the
past nine months are people asking for medical assistance to deal with
the effects of smoking it.

Utah Poison Control Center officials report they have received more
than 100 calls about spice in the past year, and there have been more
than 2,300 calls to poison control centers nationwide during the same
time period.

Numerous governmental entities in Utah, from health departments to
cities, have already outlawed the possession, distribution and
production of spice. Earlier this month, a Utah interim legislative
committee supported the idea of debating a statewide spice ban
proposal in the upcoming 2011 session.

But the product can be readily purchased on the Internet and in some
Utah smoke shops in parts of the state where it's legal.

In most states, spice is still legal. But there are few legal
requirements in most Utah cities to register the company beyond
providing the company name and minimally describing what they make:
incense.

One product found frequently in Utah, Black Mamba, lists on its
company Web site a few Utah phone numbers for contacts from whom it
can be bought. One of the contacts, listed only as Matt, answered a
few questions on the phone but did not reveal his last name nor the
location of his business.

"They are going to put 50 to 100 people out of jobs," said Matt,
about the possibility of a statewide ban.

Spice usually contains a synthetic variation of a component in
marijuana that is sprayed on herbs.

A professor of pharmacology in Utah, Glen Hanson, said this month that
spice first began to surface in Europe and much of it was originally
produced in China.

But the growth of spice in part is attributed to availability on the
Web of the chemicals often used to produce spice.

Hanson warns the final product is unpredictable for users, mostly
because it has not been researched or studied. More than 150 known
variants of the artificial cannabinoids are available and could be
sprayed on any herb, he said.

"For the most part, we don't know a lot about this," Hanson
said.

Several European countries have already banned the product, and at
least 15 states have tried to regulate spice, usually outlawing it.

Ross said the quick growth of methamphetamine labs in Utah gave peace
officers experience at tracking down small, home-grown production
facilities. He hopes that experience can be put to use should the
spice black market blossom in Utah.

Another partner in the Black Mamba operation in Utah also responded to
the legal efforts to clamp down on spice.

"Placing every item as a schedule I substance would be a waste of
time, being that the law could never keep up with the worldwide
production and distribution of new products," wrote Brett, who also
did not reveal his full name. "People have always found ways to get
around the law; just like Prohibition, all the law did was increase
the crime rate."

In the meantime, another chemically based recreational drug is
beginning to surface in the state.

A legal bath salt available on the Internet called Ivory Wave Salts,
or Ivory, is reportedly being snorted or ingested by some people to
get high, said Paul Boyden, executive director of the Statewide
Association of Public Attorneys.

Boyden, who helped craft the spice legislation approved by the interim
committee, said he believes that an Ivory-type product could be added
as a banned item in the spice legislation, if necessary. But first, a
crime lab has been asked to analyze the product.

"People can invent all sorts of chemicals faster than we can put
them into law," Boyden added.

The five chemicals targeted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration are identified as JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497
and cannabicyclohexanol.