'K2' poses dangers and should be illegal

Editor's note: Calvina Fay is the executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs. Drug Free America educates the public about the dangers of illicit drugs. SOS conducts political activities to combat drug legalization efforts. It is a nongovernmental organization that consults with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

(CNN) -- Smokable herbal blends marketed as "legal highs" have become increasingly popular and as easy to buy as cigarettes.
The blends of exotic herbs and other plants have been sprayed or coated with one or more chemicals that, when smoked, produce euphoria. They are commonly labeled as herbal incense to mask their intended purpose. These contain drugs that are dangerous and should be illegal.
"K2" is a brand name for a dried herbal blend that can be smoked. It produces a high similar to that of marijuana but doesn't contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Instead, K2 contains synthetic chemicals, known as JWH-018 and JWH-073, that mimic THC by acting on the cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

JWH-018 and JWH-073 are produced in China and unregulated in the United States. Similar products have been produced and marketed under names such as Spice, Genie, Blaze, Red X Dawn and Zohai. Since 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been receiving reports of the abuse of these herbal products.
K2's key ingredients were invented by Dr. John Huffman at Clemson University in 1995 during medical research on the effects of cannabinoids on the brain. He found no medical benefits -- only negative side effects. Unfortunately, marijuana users reproduced the recipe, creating a legal alternative to marijuana.
Although the company manufacturing K2 is unknown, it is legally available for purchase in the U.S. by anyone, including minors.
In late 2008, herbal incense-type products that were being shipped from Europe to the U.S. were found to contain traces of another potent psychoactive chemical known as HU-210. It is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance because it is a derivative of THC with a similar chemical structure and pharmacological activity. HU-210 was also developed for experimental purposes and can be from 100 to 800 times as potent as THC.
In 2009, Germany banned the sale of Spice because tests revealed that it contained JWH-018 and yet another potent chemical, CP-47 497, developed by a drug company in the 1980s for research purposes. It produces effects similar to THC and is three to 28 times more potent.
Spice is banned by some U.S. military commands, where the potential for its abuse has been recognized. Research has linked naturally produced marijuana to health issues, including schizophrenia. With synthetic marijuana being even more potent, it is frightening to consider its potential damage.
K2 can cause increased heart rate, loss of consciousness, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic episodes. Users report that smoking small amounts results in intense highs comparable to smoking large amounts of marijuana.
Studies in 2008 revealed that users developed chemical dependencies, withdrawal and addictive behaviors. Increasing numbers of children are purchasing synthetic marijuana products because they are legal and easier to obtain than cigarettes.
Because of the various chemicals being used, these substances are difficult to regulate. But the DEA is determining whether some or all of these products need to be controlled. More research is definitely needed. With young people using K2 more, some states are not waiting for the DEA and are moving to ban it.
Let's face it: Anytime you consume an uncontrolled or unregulated drug or a drug with unknown effects, you are taking a risk. Products like K2 are not made in a controlled environment, and those who use it are playing Russian roulette.
Schedule I drugs are defined as substances that have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. At this time, the evidence suggests that these synthetic marijuana substances should be controlled and perhaps classified as Schedule I drugs.
Making these drugs illegal makes it more difficult for dealers to push them to our children. It limits availability and sends a message that the drug is dangerous -- an extremely important message since history has shown that when youngsters perceive drugs to be harmful, they are less likely to use them.
K2 serves no apparent useful purpose, and we do not need more addicted family members, drug-impaired drivers or drug-related deaths.
The sale of synthetic marijuana is banned in Britain, Germany, Poland, France, South Korea and Russia. The U.S. should move urgently to protect the public from yet another dangerous and potentially deadly class of drugs.

Six-year surge in drug possession cases as figure tops 34,400

The number of people caught with drugs has soared over the past six years.
Crimes of possession have increased by 58% since 1999-2000, and in 2005-06 a total of 34,440 such crimes were recorded in Scotland, according to figures released yesterday by the Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson.
The Strathclyde region accounted for more than half of the total, while Dumfries and Galloway only recorded 663 incidents last year.
The figures came in an answer to a parliamentary question by SNP MSP Maureen Watt. She said they reflected a "serious and escalating" problem. "Such a rise has grave implications for the safety of our communities and the health and wellbeing of our nation," she said.
"These figures reflect a severe lack of positive action and policy initiatives on the part of the executive. In each year it has been in power it has allowed the situation to deteriorate and spiral out of control. The executive is fire-fighting all the time.
"What the SNP are saying is that we have got to address the root causes of drug misuse. By targeting deprivation with policies for economic growth, we will hopefully get people out of the cycle of deprivation."
The figures are not broken down by drug type, but they include heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis. They show that the number of crimes of possession with intent to supply has risen by 15.7% in six years - from 8032 in 1999-2000 to 9293 in 2005-06.
Ms Watt added: "It is good that drug dealers are being caught but for every drug dealer that is caught, at least another one will take over that patch. It isn't dealing with the problem."
A Scottish Executive spokesman said that the rise in recorded crimes reflected work by police forces and the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA).
He said: "This reflects the efforts by police forces and the SDEA, which was established in June 2000 and been strengthened since then, to target those involved in peddling this evil trade.
"Their enforcement efforts have led to increases in the number of these crimes recorded, the number of people being charged and the numbers being brought to justice.
"It also reflects the success of initiatives such as the Drug Dealer's Don't Care campaign to support local communities in the fight against drugs and encourage them to provide anonymous information about dealers operating in their area to get them off our streets."
Source: The Herald Tuesday 27th March 2007

Drug legalisation is playing Russian roulette

Willem Buiter's proposal on these pages last week for the European Union (and the world) to legalise all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, is a one-way ticket to destroying millions of children, increasing violent crime and pushing up healthcare costs.
Like most legalisation buffs, Professor Buiter suggests a regulated system where access to drugs would be prohibited for minors. Our experience with laws restricting access by children and adolescents to tobacco and alcohol makes it clear that keeping legal drugs away from minors would be an impossible dream. Teen smoking and drinking are at epidemic levels in the US and across much of the European continent. In Great Britain, keeping bars open has led to an explosion of drunkenness among teens so widespread that the government is likely to return to limited hours for pubs.
Today, the US has some 60m regular smokers, up to 20m alcoholics and alcohol abusers and about 6m illegal drug addicts. Experts such as Columbia University's Herbert Kleber believe that, with legalisation, the number of cocaine addicts alone could leapfrog beyond the number of alcoholics. The experience of European nations that have tried various shades of legalisation bears him out.
Switzerland's "Needle Park", touted as a way to restrict a few hundred heroin users to a small area, turned into a grotesque tourist attraction of 20,000 heroin addicts and junkies. It had to be closed before it infected the entire city of Zurich.
In the Netherlands, anyone over the age of 17 can drop into a marijuana "coffee shop" and pick types of marijuana just as they might choose flavours of ice-cream. As crime and the availability of drugs rose, and complaints from angry residents about the decline in their quality of life multiplied, the Dutch parliament trimmed back the number of marijuana shops in Amsterdam and the amount that can be sold to an individual.
Under decriminalisation in Italy, possession of a few doses of drugs such as heroin has generally been exempt from criminal sanction. Today, Italy has about 200,000 addicts, the highest rate of heroin addiction in Europe. Most Aids cases in Italy are attributable to drug use. England's foray into allowing any doctor to prescribe heroin was curbed as heroin use increased. Professor Buiter would have legalisation occur across all of Europe so there are no countries that are enclaves of drug use. In other words, if you like what's happened in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy, you'll love legalisation across the European Union.
Easy availability of drugs will increase criminal activity. Most violent crimes, such as murders, assaults and rapes, occur when the perpetrator is high or drunk, and much of property crime involves people seeking money to buy drugs. In the US, half the beds in most hospitals are filled with people sick or injured as a result of drug use, drinking and smoking.
Professor Buiter promotes "our cigarette manufacturers, [as] well-positioned to enter this trade" of selling heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and designer drugs such as ecstasy. Talk about letting the fox loose in the chicken coop! For decades the nicotine pushers like RJ Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, and Philip Morris have been hawking their wares to kids. Twenty years ago the cigarette company Reynolds Tobacco (RJR) created a cartoon character called Joe Camel and so heavily promoted him that more children recognised him than Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse.
Only after years of complaints from public health advocates and parents, and the threat of legal action by the Federal Trade Commission, did RJR shut down its Joe Camel campaign. RJR tried to push candy-flavoured cigarettes that mask the harshness of natural tobacco for young first-time users.
Does the world want to create a Philip Morris for weed? An RJR for cocaine? Do we want cigarette companies that by their own admission seek "replacement smokers" for those who die or quit smoking, seeking "replacement drug addicts" for those who shake their habit?
There is no basis to assume that cigarette companies will take a different approach when selling drugs. After all, these are the guys who continue to promote a product that, when used as intended, kills and maims millions of people across the world.
Professor Buiter touts taxes on the sale of illegal drugs as a great source of revenue for public purposes. This blithely ignores the history of tenacious opposition to tax increases that has marked the tobacco and alcohol companies. As a result, taxes collected on the sale of these products cover only a small fraction of the costs in healthcare and criminal justice attributable to smoking and drinking.
Legalisation assures greater availability, and availability is the mother of use. That poses a clear and present danger to our children. Research at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has found that an individual who gets to the age of 21 without smoking, using drugs or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so. Every drug-dealer, cigarette manufacturer and spirits company knows this - and acts on it. Viewed from this perspective, substance abuse and addiction are diseases typically acquired during childhood and adolescence.
Today most kids do not use illicit drugs, but all of them, particularly the poorest, are vulnerable to abuse and addiction. Russian roulette is not a game anyone should play. Legalising drugs is not only playing Russian roulette with children, it is slipping a couple of extra bullets into the chamber.
Joseph Califano
Source: www.FT.com Aug.16th 2007