Pubdate: Thu, 02 Aug 2012
Source: Daily Comet (Thibodaux, LA)
Copyright: 2012 Comet-Press Newspapers Inc.
Contact: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/99999999/SERVICES/100519642
Website: http://dailycomet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1505
Author: Xerxes A. Wilson

SYNTHETIC POT IS A LEGITIMATE HEALTH CONCERN, DOCTORS SAY

Depression, delusions and hallucinations tied to the use of synthetic
marijuana are giving a whole new meaning to the term "reefer madness,"
law enforcement officers and physicians said.

"You can call it what you want -- Russian roulette, roll of the dice.
People just do not know what is in it," said Mark Ryan, director of
the Louisiana Poison Center, "It is highly dangerous."

There have been numerous raids across Louisiana targeting the sale and
manufacturing of so-called synthetic marijuana with the Terrebonne
Sheriff's Office recently getting in on the action.

Narcotics agents for the Sheriff's Office searched the Hippie Hole and
Herbal Connexxion in Houma last week. They said their search turned up
brightly colored packets labeled as "Burst Aeromatics" and "Super
Aroma." All these packets include the phrase "not for human
consumption."

Both the Hippie Hole and Herbal Connexxion had more than 800
ready-to-sell packs, which go for between $30 and $40, said Darryl
Stewart, an assistant supervisor with the Terrebonne Parish Narcotics
Task Force.

During the search, law enforcement officials said they also found
evidence Herbal Connexxion was making its own synthetic marijuana with
12,000 individual packets labeled and ready to be filled with the drug.

Stewart said police also found receipts indicating other materials for
the manufacturing of the product had been purchased.

The basic manufacturing requirements of these substances make it
highly attractive for those looking to make a quick buck with little
investment, Stewart said.

Stewart said the drug starts as the manufacturers' choice of easily
smokable plant material, which is then sprayed with chemicals
typically purchased from overseas.

The spraying equipment, packaging, plant materials and chemicals
involved in filling those 12,000 packets at Herbal Connexxion would
have cost the manufacturer less than $5,000, officials said. The
product could have then been sold for about $360,000.

"It's the false assumption that they are legal," Stewart said of why
these drugs are popular. "People see them in the stores and near candy
bars and drinks, as opposed to finding it on a shadowy street corner.
You can walk into a business for it."

All the packs are typically marketed as incense, although their names
or slogans often make reference to drug culture.

Forms of synthetic marijuana were first banned by the Louisiana
Legislature in 2010. This set off a game of chemical cat and mouse
with law enforcement as the manufacturers of them continually changed
the formula to avoid arrest.

A law passed in 2011 broadened the scope of the banned substances, but
Stewart said law enforcement is still left chasing crafty chemists.

"Law enforcement is always going to be behind it because they can just
change it slightly and get around the law," Stewart said.

The investigation into the two Houma businesses has been going on for
about six months, and it included law enforcement buying the products
and sending them to a lab to be chemically examined for illegal
substances, officials said.

As evidence of law enforcement's uphill climb, Stewart said they have
purchased synthetic marijuana from other places only to have it yield
no illegal substances.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff's office spokesman Brennan Matherne said his
department is going through the same issues with manufacturers staying
ahead of the law.

"If the product doesn't come up as illegal, there is nothing we can do
about it," Stewart said.

The name synthetic marijuana is actually misleading because while the
drug may mimic some of the effects of the traditional drug, it's
really just a chemical compound added to a random plant material, Ryan
said.

"We don't see people come in with marijuana overdoses. They don't show
up in the emergency room. These people (using synthetic drugs) do,"
Ryan said.

Ryan said the substances used to give synthetic marijuana its
intoxicating properties were traditionally researched for potentially
therapeutic uses but were not approved by Federal Drug Administration
and haven't been tested on humans.

Then there is the constant manipulation of the chemical structures of
these substances to skirt the law that adds to the unpredictability of
the effects.

"You can test a product one day, you get one thing, and you test it
the next day, and you get something completely different," Ryan said.

Ryan also noted the crude manufacturing practices mean the potency of
a single use of synthetic marijuana could vary widely.

Hospital officials for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes said the past
two years have seen a serious upswing in the abuse of these particular
types of drugs primarily because of their easy accessibility.

"It is a wide range of symptoms we've seen," said Ryan Wolfort, the
Emergency Room director at Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital in
Raceland. (We've seen) psychiatric symptoms, a wide variety of
psychosis. We can also see metabolic issues -- heart palpitations
along with other heart and kidney issues."

Wolfort said the psychiatric symptoms include delusions like people
thinking they are being followed and hallucinations where people see
something that clearly isn't there.

"There have been some cases that have been long-lasting with tragic
outcomes," said Dr. Thomas Falterman, the Emergency Room director at
the Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma. "Some people develop
long-lasting effects including major depression, and some patients can
truly become suicidal when prior to using that substance had no such
features."

Wolfort said in some cases the psychiatric damage can be
irreparable.

Devin Verrett, responding to a question on houmatoday.com's Facebook
page, blames the synthetic drug's rise on the nation's reluctance to
legalize real marijuana.

"It's a shame citizens are faced with the dangers of synthetic
marijuana because our government is too backwards to recognize and
endorse the real medical benefits of natural marijuana," he said.
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