MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Nearly four years after teen suicides, cannibalistic attacks and hospitalizations resulting from the use of Spice, Alabama thought it was moving past its problems with the synthetic drug. However, writes The Washington Post, “The drug isn’t just back. It’s more prevalent and dangerous than ever.” Just last week, Alabama health officials reported that 462 patients had visited hospitals in the past month after smoking or ingesting Spice. Ninety-six were hospitalized and two died.
In October 2011, Alabama passed a law that designates the active ingredients found in Spice, a synthetic drug, as Schedule 1 drugs. “Alabamians need to be aware that these goods contain synthetic drugs and other chemicals which are very dangerous to their health. They are being sold in convenience stores and tobacco shops all over this state to unwary individuals including our children,” announced Governor Robert Bentley. “We are asking store owners and operators to remove these products from their shelves.”
In 2012, President Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which made synthetic marijuana and “bath salts” controlled substances and therefore illegal to sell. The sale and distribution of these products is treated similarly to the sale of cocaine, ecstasy and other illegal drugs.
However, even with federal and state laws banning these substances, they still pop up in retail locations where operators either knowingly sell these products illegally, or believe the product is legal because it has been reformulated. Spice is a chemical (rat poison, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) sprayed on something that is smokable, making the ingredients easy to change, which is how Spice is able to stay one step ahead of authorities. As soon as one version is banned, another slightly different version is produced and ready for sale and distribution, notes the Washington Post.
Nationwide, the sharp rise in emergency room visits and calls to poison control centers has brought to the attention of health officials that more potent and dangerous variations of Spice are circulating.
The New York Times reports that health departments in Alabama, Mississippi and New York issued alerts this month about increases in the amount of Spice users being rushed to hospitals and experiencing extreme anxiety, violent behavior and delusions — and some of the cases resulted in death. Similar increases have been reported in Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and Texas.
“We had one hospital in the Baton Rouge area that saw over 110 cases in February. That’s a huge spike,” Dr. Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center, told the Times. “There’s a large amount of use going on. When one of these new ingredients — something that’s more potent and gives a bigger high — is released and gets into distribution, it can cause these more extreme effects.”
In 2014, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents made about 40 arrests and seized more than 400 pounds of synthetic drugs in Alabama and Mississippi. “Yet supply chains clearly remain,” writes the Times.
Look for more on this topic in the June issue of NACS Magazine.