Synthetic drugs making rounds on NWTNTODAY.COM

Lately, synthetic drugs have been making headlines in rural and metropolitan cities across the country. Synthetic marijuana, often called “K2” or “Spice,” and bath salts products are being marketed to young people as a way to achieve a “legal” high. Products like these have been spotted in some local retail outlets in Weakley County and identified as “herbal incense” and “plant food,” respectively. The products are labeled as “not for human consumption” to mask their intended purpose and avoid FDA regulatory oversight of the manufacturing process.
Synthetic marijuana consists of plant material that has been laced with substances (synthetic cannabinoids) that users claim mimics tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Use of synthetic drugs is alarmingly high in young people. According to data from the 2011 Monitoring the Future survey of youth drug-use trends, 11.4 percent of 12th graders used Spice or K2 in the past year, making it the second most commonly used illicit drug among high school seniors.
In August 2011, an undercover police officer with the Martin Police Department purchased a capsule version of the synthetic drug known as Bath Salts. It was called “Happy” and was purchased from a local store. The product was labeled as plant food, and contained detailed instructions for consumption.
“Our investigators seized the stock of the store which consisted of 24 individual packages of the “Happy” plant food,” said Martin Police Chief David Moore.
“Since then, we have not identified any of the synthetic cannabinoids to date being sold through any of our local retailers,” Moore continued.
The Weakley County Prevention Coalition (WCPC), along with the local police departments, has been working to combat the threat of synthetic drugs and to educate people about the tremendous health risk posed by these substances. There are brochures about synthetic marijuana, K2, Spice, and Bath Salts available in the WCPC office and we encourage citizens to call us with any questions or concerns.
According to a press release from the Office of National Drug Control Policy sent out in July, President Obama signed the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 into law as part of S. 3187, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. This important piece of legislation provides a critical boost to our nation’s efforts to address the threat of synthetic drugs. The legislation bans synthetic compounds commonly found in synthetic marijuana (“K2” or “Spice”), synthetic stimulants (“Bath Salts”), and hallucinogens, by placing them under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
Although this Federal ban provides a valuable tool in keeping these dangerous substances off the shelves, it is encourage that work continues on the state level so these substances might be incorporated into the Tennessee state drug schedule to ensure that state law enforcement agencies have full authority to act against these substances. The Drug Enforcement Administration will continue to work with state and local authorities to investigate major distribution networks, but retail and community-level enforcement will continue to occur largely on a state and local level.
This law is expected to have an impact on illicit sales of these newly scheduled synthetic drugs, at least in the short term. However, Federal and state agencies will have to continue to update the list of banned substances as new synthetic compounds emerge. In addition, some states and localities have also experienced success in using additional health, safety, or agricultural authorities to remove these substances from retail shelves.
“We are very concerned with the national trend and anticipate that what affects those in other jurisdictions is sure to effect ours as well,” said Moore. “Our staff remains diligent in seeking information on the distribution of these synthetic drugs in hopes of making the purchase more difficult on a local level. We are also attentive to reports from the medical community about behavioral displays indicative of synthetic drug ingestion.”
Research shows that preventing drug use before it begins is a cost-effective, common sense approach to promoting safe and healthy communities.
WCPC is committed to partnering with state, local, and community individuals and organizations in order to address this challenge. Catherine Robilio, program coordinator for WCPC states, “As always, we are eager to hear from local citizens about what they are seeing in the community. We want them to join with us and be a part of the solution for reducing these negative influences.” More information about the work of the coalition can be obtained by calling Ms. Robilio at (731) 514-7951 or weakleyprevention@gmail.com. The WCPC website can be found at www.weakleycountyprevention.com.
Editor’s note: Catherine Robilio is the program coordinator for the Weakley County Prevention Coalition.

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