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SYNTHETIC HIGH, REAL CONCERN

Livingston County Posecutor, Groups Call for Broader Efforts to Halt Growing Synthetic Marijuana Problem

When and if state lawmakers pass legislation creating a "broader, more expansive" ban on synthetic marijuana, local police will be enforcing it at "12:01" on the effective day, according to Livingston County Prosecutor David Morse.

Morse said he was angered by the fact that many area retailers continue to sell synthetic marijuana despite knowing how dangerous it is, and he called on the community to "get involved" in the solution to what's becoming an increasingly bigger problem in Livingston County.

He spoke to the Daily Press & Argus on Friday with attorney Karen Bergbower, who also holds a leadership position with the Pinckney Coalition, one of many community service groups taking on the issue of synthetic marijuana in recent months.

"It is so easy to get, and I lay some of the blame on retailers," said Morse.

For the retailers who claim to not yet know about potential dangers associated with using synthetic marijuana - psychosis, paranoia and its addictiveness - Morse said, "Ignorance is bliss."

Synthetic marijuana and the law

The most common form of synthetic marijuana is basically dried herb sprayed with a synthetic substance, or cannabinoid.  Common brand-name varieties found on the shelves of local retailers include K2, Spice, OMG, LOL, IDK, Happy Smurf, Scooby Snax, Bob Marley, Kush and Space Cadet.

These products are marketed as incense and labeled "not for human consumption," but users typically smoke the mixtures through bongs, in cigarette form or through other means.

Morse said that Michigan lawmakers banned several chemicals used in synthetic marijuana back in 2010, but he said that chemists responded by reworking chemical formulas in newer versions of synthetic marijuana.

Morse said the products listed above - K2, Spice, OMG, LOL, IDK, Happy Smurf, Scooby Snax, Bob Marley, Kush and Space Cadet - are legal to use unless they contain previously banned substances.

The only way to tell, though, is for those products to be tested.

Morse said testing products through Michigan State Police crime labs is expensive and not done very often, though he noted that local law enforcement officials monitor synthetic marijuana sales in Livingston County.  He said police occasionally spot-check retailers and have the mixtures tested.

"There is no oversight on these products," Bergbower said.  "There is no agency that tells you what you're getting."

Users of synthetic marijuana, then, could be taking a legal risk by purchasing it if it contains previously banned chemicals.

If an individual was arrested and found to be using synthetic marijuana, the substance could be tested, and if lab results showed the substance contained a banned chemical, Morse said the user, the retailer and the clerk who sold the product could be charged with a drug-related crime.

In that instance, sentences could range from a one-year misdemeanor offense to a four-year felony.

Morse said Senate Bill 1082 would be broader and more expansive than existing legislation.  He added that another bill in the state House, if enacted, could allow for "a faster reaction" to changes in chemistry by giving an administrative agency the power to deem a synthetic substance illegal.

If either of those two laws are enacted, Morse said he'd advocate police to enforce them immediately.

Unknown dangers

Bergbower said users can exhibit symptoms of addiction to synthetic marijuana within a week.  She said it can be more addictive than marijuana or alcohol.

In comparison, it typically takes six to eight weeks of frequent use for a user to develop an addiction to alcohol, and up to three months to develop an addiction to marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana was developed decades ago by cancer researchers looking to derive a substance with marijuana's medicinal properties but without its addictiveness.

The failed research, Morse said, and ended with the creation of a synthetic material that was addictive but had no positive medicinal effects, like pain reduction.  Yet the research was published, and when patents for it ran out, Bergbower said others started making it.

"There's not even a euphoria" for those who use the substance, Bergbower said.  She called the high more of a "dysphoria." She said getting high on synthetic marijuana can be painful and have other negative physiological impacts.

The side effects of synthetic marijuana use include panic attacks, anxiety, agitation, moodiness, shifts in behavior, increased aggression, suicidal thoughts, depression and violence.

The long-term implications, she said, are "not well-known" because these synthetic drugs are so new - they didn't generate much attention until 2009 - but the feeling is that using synthetic marijuana has numerous physiological and psychological long-term side effects, she said.

"We don't really know," Bergbower said.  "It's scary."

Getting involved

As it stands, while legislation is pending on synthetic marijuana, Bergbower and Morse said an educated public will be the most effective tool in the battle against the substances.

The Pinckney Coalition continues to host parent workshops and community forums, and the Livingston County Community Alliance is putting together a list of retailers and other businesses that sell synthetic marijuana.

Businesses that do not sell these substances or other drug paraphernalia could be recognized by the community "in a positive way," Bergbower said, possibly by giving them signs to post in their windows so shoppers know they're free of synthetic marijuana.  Retailers might be asked to sign a pledge, too, stating they won't sell synthetic marijuana, she said.

"We want to recognize these businesses in a positive way," Bergbower said.

On the other side of the coin, she said the community alliance may organize possible protests or picketing outside businesses known to sell these products.  A June 1 target date has been suggested for such action, though it is unclear yet whether picketing will occur.

The biggest key, Bergbower said, is educating the community, especially parents, about the dangers of synthetic marijuana.

The packaging on these products is often brightly colored and attractive, especially to children, and product names like Scooby Snax or LOL are very much geared toward children, she said.

Bergbower disagrees with store owners who say they have to sell the synthetic marijuana to stay competitive because competitors are selling thousands of dollars of it per week.

"What were you doing before K2?" Bergbower said.

K2 is a brand name of incense, but is sometimes used as a catch-all term for synthetic marijuana.

"This is a community problem, and we have to get it out of our community," Bergbower said.

She urged area residents to start a conversation with retailers, and to ask them if they sell synthetic marijuana.  If they do, she said, residents can choose to take their business elsewhere.

In addition, Bergbower said residents should continue to talk about synthetic marijuana and its dangers.

Continuing the conversation could help reduce access to synthetic marijuana and help increase the "perceived risk" users face when deciding whether to use a drug.

Bergbower said access and perceived risk are the two most common deterrents against the use of any drug.

"Educate, educate, educate," Bergbower said.  "We have to educate communitywide."

For more information, visit the Livingston County Community Alliance at www.livingstoncountycommunityalliance.org, the Pinckney Coalition at www.kbamichigan.com/pcrud, or the Livingston County Prevention Project at www.neversaynevermi.com/lcpp.html .