SYNTHETIC DRUGS ARRIVE IN LAKE STEVENS SMOKE SHOPS

Terms like "bath salts", K2 and Spice have completely different
meanings these days. K2 no longer only refers to a ski and snowboard
manufacturer and "bath salts" no longer convey images of a relaxing
aroma coming from a warm bath.

Today these words imply fake marijuana and fake cocaine, and until
recently were legal to buy and use in Washington State. These
synthetic drugs did hit local smoke shops but Lake Stevens Police have
taken them off the shelves of the three smoke and tobacco stores
within the city.

After a 30-year-old Lake Stevens man overdosed on these fake drugs on
May 27, Lake Stevens Police Detective Dennis Irwin was confiscating
them from store shelves by June 3. Luckily, the man lived through his
ordeal.

"It kind of went under the radar because we hadn't had any incidents
until the overdose on May 27," Irwin said. "By June 3, I was taking
things out of the stores. We seized 287 products within the three
local shops."

On April 15, 2011 the Washington State Board of Pharmacy approved
language to amend WAC 246-887-100 of the Uniform Controlled Substances
Act which bans the chemicals used in bath salts and synthetic
marijuana. These fake drugs have a high potential for abuse and no
accepted medical use. The emergency rule makes it illegal to sell,
possess, manufacture and deliver these chemicals or products.

Irwin explained that these drugs became popular in Europe in the early
part of the century and made it to the U.S. in 2009. Since then
emergency rooms across the country and the state have seen increases
in users seeking medical attention after partaking of the drugs.

Fake marijuana is typically smoked while bath salts are most commonly
snorted but can be injected and ingested. According to the American
Association of Poison Control Centers, the use of "bath salts" has
lead to 1,511 trips to emergency rooms as of April this year, compared
to just 302 cases in all of 2010. Between January and March of this
year, there were 2,120 cases of poisonings from synthetic marijuana
compared to 155 cases in the same period in 2010. The Everett Herald
reported last Friday that, "As of late June, the Washington Poison
Center had seen about 76 calls involving Bath Salts this year. The
center had one call about bath salts in 2010. They had nearly 90 calls
about Spice last year and about 70 so far this year."

The Washington Poison Center explains the effects of K2 and Spice and
other synthetic marijuanas. The drugs create "euphoric and
psychoactive effects that imitate marijuana and are among the numerous
compounds found in "herbal" incense or smoke blends."

Dr. Suzan Mazor, a Board Certified Toxicologist and an Associate
Medical Director for the Washington Poison Center tells us that "some
patients have effects similar to marijuana high, others develop
symptoms that bring them to the ER like rapid heart rate, paranoia,
agitation, high blood pressure and elevated temperature." Bath salt
use creates some of the same symptoms.

These drugs are, "a stimulant drug with effects like amphetamines or
cocaine, including hallucinations, delusions, agitation, high blood
pressure, headache and suicidal thoughts. There have been reports of
violent encounters with patients high on bath salts."

Mazor goes on to say that, "Deaths have been reported, and there
synthesis is completely unregulated, so very dangerous." Lake Stevens
Police are ensuring that these fake drugs stay off of store shelves
here and have sent collected samples to the Washington State Patrol
for testing.

"The shop owners have been more than supportive," Detective Irwin
said.