Carmel, New York—
The
Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Putnam County Communities That
Care Coalition commends Congress for passing the Food and Drug Administration
Safety and Innovation Act, S. 3187, which requires 26 synthetic chemicals,
including those commonly found in products marketed as "K2" and
"Spice" to be considered Schedule I substances. Schedule I substances
are those with a high potential for abuse; have no medical use in treatment in
the United States; and lack an accepted safety for use of the drug.
This
federal law would establish regulatory oversight and enforcement on the federal
level of these 26 drugs commonly found in synthetic marijuana known as
"K2" and "Spice." The new law also allows the DEA or FDA to
temporarily ban the drugs for as long as 36 months. The legislation creates a
new definition for “cannabamimetic agents” and sets criteria for the regulation
of similar chemical compounds.
According to the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, “States ought to work to ensure that they have
themselves scheduled on a State level all the substances incorporated into the
Federal legislation. Although state laws vary, generally state law enforcement
officials will not enforce narcotics laws on substances controlled on a Federal
level but not a State level. DEA will naturally focus their limited
resources on major distribution networks and cross-state and international trafficking
of these substances and their component chemicals. DEA wants to be as
helpful as possible to state authorities and to partner in investigations, but
the reality is that they do not have the manpower to enforce these controls on
the thousands of individual retail outlets that may sell them across the
country. Both Federal and State agencies will have to continue to review and
update the list of banned substances as new versions are produced and
distributed. Due to the huge profitability of these substances and the
difficulty many prosecutors have in making these cases, ONDCP would encourage
state and local agencies to continue to attempt to use their State
health/safety/agricultural authorities to remove these substances from store
shelves. Further, civil fines and other penalties continue to be another
useful tool to motive retailers to stop selling these substances. The
Federal scheduling of the additional synthetic substances is an important step
forward, but not the end of the story. All of us must continue to be creative
in finding solutions to this continually evolving drug problem.”
Synthetic marijuana is a mixture of herbs and spices
applied with a synthetic chemical compound (psychotropic drug JWH- 018 and
JWH-073) similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Spice is sold in
smoke shops and head shops in a variety of colors/flavors-usually sold in foil
packaging or in small glass containers. It is sold as incense and marked “not for human
consumption” and is dangerous and addictive.
Nicknames for synthetic marijuana
include: Fake weed, spice, K-2 spice, K-2 summit, Black Mamba, Genie, Zohai,
Serenity Now, Zombie Zilla. According to the American Association of Poison
Control Center’s National Poison Data System (NPDS) the emergency calls doubled
between 2010 and 2011 due to synthetic drug use.
If you have concerns or suspect a person of using synthetic
cannabinoids take the individual to
the nearest emergency department. The Upstate New York Poison Control Center
can be reached at 1-800-222-1222. If you
are someone you know is struggling with alcohol and addiction, please call the
National Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies/Putnam for
information and referral services at (845) 225-4646.
Members
of the Putnam CTC Coalition are available if you have any questions or would
like for us to do a presentation to your organization on this or any other
substance abuse trends that affect our children. Please visit and join us on Facebook by
searching “Putnam County Communities That Care – NY” or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PutnamCTCNY
or call 845-225-4646
