“Spice” is back.
Just months after Virginia and dozens of other states banned synthetic marijuana, the chemists who make it have found a way to outfox lawmakers.
(Rob Ostermaier/DAILY PRESS) - Hampton, Va., police raided Outer Edge Gifts on North King Street in April, confiscating about $8,100 of a controlled substance they suspect is ”spice.”
The Crime Scene
Spice manufacturers, who spray herbs with compounds that mimic the active ingredient in marijuana, have altered their recipes just enough to skirt the bans and are again openly marketing spice in stores and on the Web. Some users report that the new generation of products could be more potent than the original formulas, which have sickened hundreds nationwide and been linked to deaths.
Spice, commonly sold in colorful packets as “herbal incense,” is smoked to get high. A new National Institute on Drug Abuse study found that it is the second- most frequently used illicit substance among high school seniors, behind marijuana.
Some users have experienced seizures, hallucinations, vomiting, anxiety and an accelerated heart rate, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Virginia, one of about 40 states that regulate spice, in March made it a crime to have or sell spice that contains any of 10 chemicals often used in the mixture. The same month, the DEA issued a 12-month nationwide emergency prohibition on five compounds. Maryland is also considering restrictions, and the D.C. Council is weighing a ban.
But prosecutions of three of the largest spice busts in Virginia — including one in Falls Church — have hit roadblocks because the spice that police seized does not contain banned chemicals listed in state law. Authorities in Florida, Indiana, Illinois and Alaska have encountered similar problems.
“I don’t know whether we are going to be able stay one step ahead of these chemists,” said Richard Trodden, Arlington County’s top prosecutor and a member of Virginia’s crime commission.
In the Falls Church case, police in June raided a tobacco shop near two schools, seizing 1,700 packets of synthetic marijuana. But the 34 spice samples tested from Arabica Tobacco contained only nonrestricted active ingredients, according to court papers.
The case is scheduled to go to court next month, and prosecutors declined to say whether it will go forward. A reporter did not find spice on sale there this month, and an owner declined to comment on the case.
The emergence of spice
Spice caught the attention of law enforcement in 2008 and has exploded in popularity. The mixes, made with the synthetic version of compounds known as cannabinoids, are sold for about $15 to $25 a gram. One Web site advertises “Legal products available for each . . . state!”
A member of the Falls Church School Board, which pushed for the state spice ban, said she is frustrated it remains on the market.
“To the extent that these makers are putting out a product that’s harmful to kids, that’s going to bother me and every other school board member out there,” Vice Chairman Susan Kearney said.
The problem for lawmakers is thorny. There are potentially hundreds of synthetic cannabinoids that makers could substitute for the banned ones — and that is exactly what has happened.
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