Pubdate: Sat, 28 Jul 2012
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386

'SALT' AND 'SPICE' AND NOTHING IS NICE

In the sordid history of illicit drug distribution, the brazen
marketing of two classes of synthetic drugs has set a new standard for
untruths in advertising.

Only criminals with the moral sense of Gila monsters would peddle
mind-altering designer drugs as benign legal products. Only customers
with no regard for their health would snort, inject, smoke or swallow
them.

Marketed to young people, "bath salts" and "spice," are widely known
to mimic the effects of cocaine and marijuana respectively. Labels
saying they're not for human consumption are part of the underworld
joke.

No question, the popularity of the designer drugs, typically purchased
in head shops and gas stations, is on the rise, as measured by
panicked pleas for help after they've been taken. In 2010, 3,200 calls
were placed to poison centers. Last year, the number spiked to 13,000.

Fortunately, law enforcement, armed with updated legislation, is
cracking down.

Last week, federal and state agencies arrested 90 people in 30 states,
confiscating 5 million packets of the fake marijuana and 167,000
packages of the stimulants.

A raid on an Escondido operation resulted in arrests and the seizure
of thousands of packets of synthetic drugs.

In the war against drugs, no criminals are more vile than those who
use the marketplace to get killer designer fashions into the
bloodstreams of the young and foolish.
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MAP posted-by: Matt