SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA CAUSE FOR GROWING CONCERN IN NEW BEDFORD

NEW BEDFORD - A synthetic marijuana that is legally sold as an herbal
incense at convenience stores is drawing fire from health
professionals and public officials concerned that more teens are
becoming violently ill after smoking the substances.

The various mixtures of herbs, plants and chemical compounds -
popularly known as K2, K4, or K9 and sold in foil packets or vials -
are about to be banned for one year while federal regulators determine
whether the products should be classified as controlled substances.

While that temporary ban will not take effect until Christmas, Ward 4
City Councilor Bruce Duarte has proposed an ordinance that would
outright prohibit K2 and similar products in New Bedford.

"I want to send a message out because there are people not aware of
this. This stuff is no good," said Duarte, who presented a motion at
Thursday night's City Council meeting calling on state and federal
lawmakers to pass legislation banning the compounds.

He also proposed the city establish regulations that would ban the
sale or possession of such substances in New Bedford. His proposal
passed unanimously and now the city's Committee on Ordinances will
consider establishing such a ban.

"It's upsetting that this council has to come up with a ban,"
Councilor Steven Martins said. "These substances should have never
made the shelves to begin with."

Duarte also suggested the City Council write to the city's Statehouse
and Capitol Hill delegations and surrounding towns' boards of
selectmen encouraging them to also ban sales of K2, which contains
synthetic cannabinoids, chemicals that imitate the effects of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana.

"This stuff is as real as it gets and it needs to be banned," said
Duarte at the meeting, holding up a small vial of K4 he had purchased
at a local shop.

The issue arose Wednesday during Mayor Scott W. Lang's weekly meeting
with reporters. Lang said he supported Duarte's proposal and added
that he hoped the City Council would take "swift action."

"It's the kind of thing we don't want our kids doing at all," Lang
said. "We want to keep them away from substances that alter their
mind, behavior, slow down their reflexes. It's not an appropriate thing."

K2 - and other brands such as Demon, Genie and Spice - have already
been banned in 13 states following widespread reports of teenagers and
young adults becoming violently ill after smoking the material.

"Kids are able to get it; that's our main concern," Councilor David
Alves said.

Some of the most common reported symptoms include elevated heart
rates, increased blood pressure, disorientation, anxiety,
hallucinations and vomiting.

Dr. Sam Shen, associate director of emergency services for St. Luke's
Hospital, said it was difficult to tell whether patients recently
admitted with those symptoms had smoked synthetic marijuana because it
is undetectable in toxicology screens.

Shen said smoking synthetic pot can carry higher health risks because
its chemical concentrations are usually more potent than natural marijuana.

"Given that these substances, which are unregulated, are sometimes
marketed as being herbal and sold over the Internet as such, it seems
there is a false sense of security among people who buy these
products," Shen said.

"People may think it is past all the various legal regulations when,
in fact, these products can vary in their potency."

The incenses are available online and in convenience stores and
tobacco shops. They usually carry a "not for consumption" disclaimer.
Customers must be over 18 to legally purchase the products, which sell
for $15 to $25.

Mike Meno, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington,
D.C, said banning fake marijuana would prove as ineffective as the ban
on the real thing.

"The prevalence of these substances is simply another unintended
consequence of the government's irrational prohibition on natural,
whole-plant marijuana, which comes with none of the side effects
attributed to these chemical knock-offs," Meno said.

K2 was being sold Thursday in multiple flavors - orange, pineapple and
blueberry - at the BP gas station located at the corner of Route 18
and Potomska Street. It was stocked next to another herbal incense
brand called "Black Magic Smoke."

The K2 packet label advertises itself as an "exotic herbal smoking
blend" that contains "a combination of rare plants, herbal extracts
and botanical concentrates."

At Petromart on Coggeshall Street, store manager Michael Khalife sold
Demon, which lists its active ingredients.

"I stepped away from K2 because it got a lot of bad publicity. I
didn't want to mess with it," said Khalife, who on Christmas will
replace the current Demon product with a version that lacks five
chemicals that will be banned for one year by the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Khalife said demand for Demon has been steady since he began selling
it two months ago.

"It's supposed to be an aroma that fills up the room and makes you
feel better. You're not supposed to smoke it," he said. "But with some
people, you don't know."