DEA Moves to Emergency Control

                          Synthetic Marijuana

K2's (Spice) label says that the drug is "not for human consumption." That admonition has not been followed by what appear to be hundreds of thousands of synthetic cannabinoid Spice experimenters. On November 24, 2010 the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in a rather swift reaction to the Spice phenomenon emergency listed various chemical iterations of it as a Schedule I substance. This move by DEA puts Spice into a heady collection of dangerous drugs and narcotics that includes heroin and L.S.D. Schedule I is also the regulatory home to marijuana and other cannabinoid products.

The DEA ban includes spice synthetic ingredients of JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, 1R, 3S and CP 47, 497. These now banned drugs have been spiked onto plant material that has been sold to the public at large in small packets of smokeable incense. In a short time, Spice products have generated a great deal of public interest. The synthetic cannabinoids in Spice are powerful agonists of the main THC receptors in the brain. Following smoking the product, Spice users report a litany of symptoms that range from pleasurable feelings of increased sociability to those of hallucinations, anxiety and profound dysphoria. Spice is smoked using typical marijuana smoking instruments such as water "bong" pipes and smaller ceramic pipes. The experiences of Spice users can be found on blogs and drug use websites; users of Spice have not been bashful about relating their experiences and assessments of the drugs. 

It remains to be seen whether or not DEA's emergency action here will deter the use and abuse of these drugs. One of the most appealing aspects of Spice products for users was that the synthetic cannabinoids in it were not detectable using traditional THC testing assays. In response to the explosive use of these drugs, testing laboratories like MEDTOX quickly assembled new tests and protocols that can now accurately spot and identify patterns of Spice abuse in suspected urine samples. Further research and study of Spice will continue in light of the DEA ban. The DEA regulatory action taken here will last for at least one year. The ban goes into effect within a month of the November 24, 2010 announcement.