Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2012
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Column: Truth-O-Meter PolitiFact Georgia
Copyright: 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Willoughby Mariano

GOVERNOR RIGHT ON SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA DANGERS

Phony marijuana targeted by recent state legislation sounds worse 
than the real thing, if you believe Georgia's governor.

Chase's Law strengthens a ban on "synthetic marijuana," ground-up 
plant material laced with chemicals that mimic marijuana. Chase 
Burnett, the bill's namesake, was found dead in March in a hot tub at 
his Fayette County home, a packet of the drugs nearby. He was 16.

The bill passed with overwhelming support. On March 27, Gov. Nathan 
Deal signed it into law.

A press release warned of synthetic marijuana's dangers:

"As the usage has dramatically increased, instances of violence, 
bodily harm and even death have risen with it," it said.

We've heard that the drug is nasty stuff. But what's this about 
violence, bodily harm and death?

A Deal spokeswoman sent PolitiFact Georgia news stories and poison 
control data to prove the governor's point. We also talked to 
researchers and law enforcement officials and reviewed news stories 
and scientific studies.

The form of synthetic marijuana that's sparking so much concern is 
sold at head shops and gas stations under brand names such as "Spice" and "K2."

Georgia made it a felony to manufacture and sell it in 2010. Chase's 
Law tries to keep underground chemists from tweaking their recipes to 
get around state restrictions.

There's little scholarly research on the drug, which appears to be 
new to the U.S.

Federal labs first detected these drugs in November 2008, according 
to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The earliest U.S. news story 
we found about its rising popularity appeared in a Hutchinson Kan., 
newspaper in November 2009.

All signs suggest that synthetic marijuana use is increasing 
dramatically, but data is in short supply.

Workers at the American Association of Poison Control Centers began 
tracking synthetic marijuana calls in 2010 after they noticed more 
inquiries, a spokeswoman told PolitiFact Georgia.

In 2010, they received 2,906 calls; in 2011, there were 6,959.

About 11 percent of high school seniors reported using synthetic 
marijuana in the past year, according to 2011 results of an annual 
survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It was the first time 
researchers asked about the drug.

Existing data support Deal's claim that reports of bodily harm have 
climbed. Georgia Poison Center call data show 10 users were admitted 
to a hospital's critical care unit in 2010 after using the drug. 
Forty-five were admitted in 2011.

Rapid heartbeat, agitation, drowsiness, vomiting, hallucinations and 
nausea were among the drug's most common effects, researchers have found.

Media accounts report drug users injured in car crashes, falls and 
other accidents -- some fatal.

Whether synthetic marijuana is directly responsible for deaths -- and 
whether they're increasing -- is a more complicated issue. We found 
no published studies on the drug's lethality, but there have been 
"scattered reports of deaths," said Lloyd Johnston, a University of 
Michigan professor who conducted the National Institute on Drug Abuse survey.

A count of news stories suggests there are more deadly cases. But 
whether the drug is a direct cause or contributing factor is not 
clear in some instances.

Consider Burnett's death. Toxicology tests are still in the works. 
Whether the official cause of death was drowning, the drug or 
something else is unsettled.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead told 
PolitiFact Georgia of two other recent deaths:

Two chemicals used in synthetic marijuana were found in the system of 
a man, 43, who died Sept. 8 in Cherokee County. The official cause of 
death was chronic high blood pressure. Toxicology results are pending 
in the Feb. 20 death of a 26-year-old Clarke County man. Police found 
two packages of synthetic marijuana on his bathroom sink, one 
partially used. We found other accounts of synthetic 
marijuana-related deaths. For example, a South Carolina coroner ruled 
that it was directly responsible for the October death of a college 
basketball player who collapsed during warm-up, according to multiple 
news accounts.

PolitiFact Georgia found less support for Deal's claim about 
violence. We found no published studies on the subject. News stories, 
however, suggest there's cause for concern.

For instance:

In September, a Bulloch County man told emergency dispatchers he and 
his girlfriend smoked Spice and it made him act "crazy," a sheriff's 
report said. When deputies arrived, they found him holding his 
girlfriend, who was bloody and beaten. He said he attacked her. In 
2010, an 18-year-old Iowa man fatally shot himself after smoking the drug.

To sum up:

Evidence supports Deal's claim that use of the drug has "dramatically 
increased," as has synthetic marijuana-related "bodily harm." Some 
evidence suggests that deaths have risen, too.

The link between the drug and violence is less clear. News accounts 
suggest there is an increase in both, but we found so few cases it's 
hard to tell.

Deal's statement could use clarification. Still, it earns a Mostly True.

[sidebar]

"As the usage [of synthetic marijuana] has dramatically increased, 
instances of violence, bodily harm and even death have risen with 
it." Gov. Nathan Deal, in a press release, March 27, 2012 
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