As California considers legalizing marijuana to bring in needed tax money, some counties in Indiana are taking a different approach by protecting citizens from potentially serious health issues.
On Aug. 17, Boone County, followed a day later by Morgan County, adopted a ban on the sale of spice, a synthetic marijuana alternative. Law enforcement officials will say that spice, also known as K23, is a potentially addictive packet of herbs coated with a chemical that gives the user a marijuana-like high.
Spice was created by an organic chemistry research professor at Clemson University. He was studying ways to use THC to treat nausea and glaucoma and to use as appetite stimulants.
The sale of spice has remained legal in Indiana although the trend has begun turning after the Indiana Poison Center reported that some users have been hospitalized. As of today, spice can be purchased for $20 in a tin at tobacco and convenience stores, among other outlets. Retailers will say they thought the packets were as innocent as incense. Spice is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, a fact that should send smoke signals as warnings to Hoosiers. No one is monitoring spice’s ill effects; no one is monitoring what dosage is safe, if any.
The effects are similar to a drug overdose with a racing pulse, severe headaches, nausea and hallucinations. In Boone County, 11 juveniles recently tested positive for the chemical. By the way, if you see someone experiencing these symptoms, call 911 or the poison center at 800-222-1222. If parents aren’t keeping an eye out for spice packets in their child’s possession or disregarding warning signs, then they may well learn by January.
That’s when a ban on spice is expected to come before the Indiana General Assembly, though the debate may be short. State Rep. John Barnes, D-Indianapolis, a high school teacher, says he will introduce legislation that would ban the sale of spice. If passed, Indiana will join at least 11 states that have prohibited or are moving ahead in banning the substance.
State Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, has requested the chairman of the Indiana General Assembly Commission on Courts to determine whether or not the legislature should address the topic during the 2011 session. Why wait? Other states have taken the proper action.
Lanane has publicly tied his concern to a Middletown woman who died at Saint John’s Medical Center after reportedly using spice; the report came from one of the woman’s friends As of this date, the Madison County coroner’s office has not found spice to be a direct cause of the death.
Rumors aside, the state should quickly take action and ban its use, sale and production in Indiana. If the state does not seem forthcoming, then the Madison County Board of Commissioners should move ahead with an ordinance. There has been just one death nationally linked to spice; an Iowa teen who shot himself to death in a panic attack. Other tragedies may never come. But with access so available for a dangerous synthetic drug, the state must ban the sale and use of an unregulated chemical that, if left uncontrolled, could lead to stroke, heart attack and other debilitating conditions.
Editorials
Editorial: State should take action against spice
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