It’s pretty sad when those types of stories become normal, everyday news.

Here’s a personal story from a man that dodged a bullet.

Two puffs of K2 nearly took me out

Re: Bizarre claims not backed up, April 22 letter.

The article “Synthetic cannabis is ruining lives” on page 4 of Monday’s paper is the reason for my so-called “bizarre” claims. Mention is made of a young mum attending the funeral of her boyfriend who got into K2 only six weeks beforehand. Hard out, he went blind and died of a stroke.

Tait Dalrymple’s answer to the front-page story is where I was coming from.

Why would you legalise a drug that is off-the-charts harmful compared to alchohol rated No. 1 and cannabis rated No. 13?

If you drink a bottle of whiskey you don’t go blind and have a stroke now, do you — so why would a government that demonises cannabis let lethal legal alternatives flourish?

I speak with some authority, having tried K2 when I was in Australia. I had two puffs and suffered what I can only conclude was a minor stroke and have only recently recovered the feeling in the fingers of my left hand.

I used cannabis regularly for the best part of 40 years and if the horrible things that anti-cannabis people use as the basis for their views were true, I would have to assume I would not be in very good shape by now.

Yet two miserable puffs of K2 nearly took me out. I was totally unprepared. The stuff was legal and I was doing nothing wrong. Go figure.

As I bought the K2 over the counter my mind was going “this is too easy, there must be a catch”.

If something appears too good to be true there is usually a catch, and I question the motivation for legalising synthetic cannabis with some justification I believe.

PETER JONES

For three years, Farmer has been advocating for authorities to use their powers with little or no response.

The DEA is charged with enforcing the Synthetic Drug Prevention Act of 2012, which adds synthetic chemical compounds to the Schedule 1 list of the Controlled Substances Act.  However, synthetic drugs manufactured with chemicals that aren’t currently on the Schedule 1 list remain unregulated.  This is the loop-hole that greedy sociopaths have been jumping through for years, with little or no action from those government agencies that are charged with the responsibility of protecting Americans from unregulated, dangerous products.

As long as the federal government continues to outlaw specific chemical compounds and their analogues instead of drafting mislabeling and misbranding legislation, the ‘bad guys’ will continue to introduce new chemicals to the market in an attempt to stay one step ahead.  We need legislation that doesn’t specifically list chemicals, but instead bans the mislabeling of products containing dangerous chemicals that are sold as drugs, if not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder,  Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner and Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Inez Tenenbaum and media, Farmer is demanding that they take action to enforce our laws that address unregulated products.

It’s time to ACT!!!  And, Cindy has done 99% of the work for you.  Stop complaining and do something about it!

Please draft a short letter/email to the above mentioned authorities and attach Farmer’s letter.  Now is the time to act!  We need your help to make this letter effective.

Cindy Farmer’s letter:

Beverly Cindy Farmer, M.S. (Current Doctoral Student of Public Safety)
Cherokee County Juvenile Drug Court Director
710 Jeffrey Street
Tahlequah, OK  74464

April 22, 2013

Via Email: askdoj@usdoj.gov
Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.
U.S. Department of Justice

Via Email: niempmo@niem.gov, fema-nims@dhs.gov, FLETC-CounterterrorismDivision@dhs.gov
Secretary Janet Napolitano
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Via Email: ASAStaff@hhs.gov
Assistant Secretary for Administration
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 

Via Email: http://www.speaker.gov/contact
Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner

Via Email: dslee@cpsc.gov
Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Re:  Synthetic Drug Products

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

            There are numerous unregulated products being sold across the United States today known to contain various poisons that are killing our citizenry; namely spice, bath salts, plant fertilizer, potpourri, and herbal incense [Spice].  While the federal government and state legislators continue to draft legislation placing poisons laced on these products on the Controlled Substance Schedule I lists as ‘drugs’, my contention is that these controlled substances, and others yet to be identified, pose a much greater threat to the security and public safety of the United States than has been recognized.  The CDC reports a high correlation between Spice use and kidney failure (Prevention, 2013); Various State Poison Control Centers have issued warnings and alerts to the dangers of these products.  My contention is that these products serve as conduits, or vehicles in which poisons are delivered to our citizenry, and further, pose certain bioterrorism risks to the United States.

            Many cities have attempted to address the issue via city ordinances, public nuisances, as well as administrative sanctions at local levels.  Individual states continue to add specific synthetic cannabinoid chemical compounds to their ever-growing Schedule I list of Controlled Substances; and the DEA continues to work the issue via the ‘drug’ perspective in hammering manufacturing companies stateside.  The aforementioned efforts do not prevent the shipment of these products into the United States by other countries.  This issue already permeates the United States.

            In my attempt to address the issue more broadly, I have found that various state and federal agencies lack adequate understanding and knowledge about these synthetic drug/poisoned products as evidenced by the continued use of the label ‘synthetic marijuana’ in these discussions.  These products provide severe reactions, and symptoms entirely different than marijuana.  In short, the responses I have obtained from various state and federal agencies at this point are as follows:

Ø  The Federal Trade Commission contends that the issue of deception in labeling, or lack thereof, is the responsibility of the Bureau of Consumer Protection and/or the Drug Enforcement Administration since some of these ‘synthetic cannabinoids’ have been placed under the Schedule I list.   They contend that ‘drugs’ are the responsibility of the FDA and DEA.

Ø  The Bureau of Consumer Protection suggested I contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Since many of these chemical compounds are now listed as Controlled Substances at the federal and state level, the CPSC contends that these ‘products’ are under the responsibility of the DEA, although in one email response dated March 29, 2013 they admitted that they ‘share’ jurisdiction while in the second response provided investigators and managers submitted the following statement: “We recently looked into these types of products. Such items may be called incense, potpourri, or bath salts, but they really are drugs. These are the names they go under, but they aren’t really what they call themselves.  As drugs they aren’t in our jurisdiction. DEA has been taking a very active role with these synthetic drugs and has recently had several such substances added to the list of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. The most appropriate thing is for these types of complaints to be referred to the DEA” (Emailed response dated April 11, 2013). The Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] is the only agency tasked with handling ‘Unregulated Products’, but because these synthetic chemical compounds are viewed as “drugs” rather than the poisons they are listed as according to Cayman Chemicals, the CPSC claims jurisdiction lies with the DEA.

Ø  The Federal Food and Drug Administration contends that these products are “not for human consumption” therefore they have no jurisdiction over the issue.  Even though ‘drugs’ are found within these products, the FDA contends the ‘product’ itself does not require FDA involvement.  However, lab reports provided by manufacturers of these synthetic drug products state: “The testing was conducted according to the FDA cGMP for Dietary Supplements Final Rule, June 25, 2007.”; it seems that manufacturers admit human consumption by acquiescence.

Ø  Oklahoma Health and Human Services merely reported to me that they would check into the ‘Dietary Supplements Final Rule’ of the FDA, and contact me when they obtained some sort of guidance.  Travis Brown contended that the Oklahoma Department of Health had the ability to pull products from shelves provided adequate evidence exists; he was also provided the Material Data Safety Sheet [MSDS] showing JWH-018 to be listed as a “poison”.

Ø  Both the FTC and the FDA contended they do not enforce laws of this nature, and that I should contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District to obtain some type of recourse in enforcing federal laws, specifically the Analog Act and OSHA requirements.  I have provided the necessary information to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and have not received any response to date.

Ø  The DEA contends that they are working on it, and suggested I continue to educate youth and bring about awareness of the issue within my state.  The DEA has been the only federal agency actively working to solve the issue. For that, I am grateful.

            Each of the above-mentioned agencies view the problem of synthetic drug products as a ‘drug’ issue, and further contend that the issue is in the hands of law enforcement either at a state or federal level for enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act.  Because these products are labeled “not for human consumption”, and “does not contain any illegal synthetic cannabinoids”, and are sold under the guise of being an herbal incense or potpourri product, law enforcement’s ability to remove such products from store shelves requires them to prove these products contain controlled substances. Therefore, these products must be submitted to state laboratories for testing before any legal action may be taken.

            Until our federal government agencies, collaboratively, require manufacturers of these products to be held accountable for the substances, or poisons contained within these products, this public safety issue will continue to create more liabilities on law enforcement, emergency personnel, mental health professionals, and more broadly, our country. These synthetic drug products are still sold across the counters in stores near you.  Currently, there is no ‘stand alone’ agency that can prevent any international terrorist group from placing deadly poisons on these products and delivering them to our United States citizenry.  I find issue in that.

            Joseph T. Rannazzisi’s report to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics

Control, dated April 6, 2011 points out the basic elements of ‘drug’ aspects surrounding these synthetic drug products(Rannazzisi J. , 2011).  Mr. Rannazzisi also testified before the Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the United States house of Representatives at a hearing entitled “Legislative hearing to Address Bioterrorism, Controlled Substances and Public health Issues” on July 21, 2011 (Rannazzisi J. T., 2011).  As pointed out by Mr. Rannazzisi, “there is no regulatory oversight of the manufacturing process for the substances or the associated products” (Rannazzisi, 2011, p. 2).  However, specific information was not provided; for example, the Material Data Safety Sheets provided on many of these synthetic cannabinoids such as JWH-018 and HU 210, list these compounds as “Highly Flammable, Danger – Poison, Toxic” under the ‘Emergency Overview’ in the Hazards Identification Section. Further, the MSDS sheet claims that this chemical compound cannot be made nonpoisonous.(See Cayman Chemical Website for MSDS sheets).

           The newer so-called analogs have no such information because they have been newly developed, or identified, and no data is available at this time.

            From my research, I concur with Mr. Rannazzisi that there are no regulatory agencies responsible for ‘herbal incense’ or ‘potpourri’ products.  It appears that these products fall under the category of Unregulated Products discussed in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which further directs recourse to be with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

            At this point, as you are aware, our federal and state legislators have passed numerous laws specifically dealing with the ‘chemical compounds’ associated with these synthetic drug products; however, head shops and convenient stores are still allowed to sell these poison-laced herbal incense, bath salts, plant fertilizer and potpourri products across the counters to unsuspecting consumers increasing deception via improper labeling.

            Herein lies our issue:  The problem of synthetic drug products will only continue if we do not deal with the “Spice” issue in an effective manner.

* Spice products have no medicinal purpose, or other intrinsic value;

*  By definition, the herbal incense and potpourri products are meant to be experienced by the olfactory system of the human body thus requiring inhalation, whether purposeful or not;

*  Spice products are exorbitantly priced compared to normal household aroma products;

*  Spice, or herbal incense and potpourri products provide mimicked pharmacological effects of a controlled substance (Johnson, Johnson, & Alfonzo, 2011);

*  Spice products have been noted as exhibiting physiological effects of a controlled substance analogue (Fattore & Fratta, 2011);

*  The “potential for toxicity, addiction, and secondary effects, such as impaired driving, make these compounds a serious medical and public-health concern” (James, Moran, Moran, & McCain, 2011, p. 36);

*  Manufacturers openly advertised that the product “does not contain any illegal synthetic cannabinoids” for the sole purpose of obtaining the attention of cannabis users thus furthering their mistaken belief that these synthetic drug products are safe alternatives to marijuana;

*  Even if Spice products were used in a normative manner for providing an aroma, the effects of the poisons and synthetic drugs laced on these products pose health risks to young children in the homes of users as can be evidenced by the above Material Data Safety Sheet on HU210;

*  These products are not discriminative; they are used by the working population to avoid drug testing in the work place, and by individuals subjected to drug tests such as probation and parole;

*  Lastly, and more importantly, the lack of action from various federal agencies and the absence of regulation concerning synthetic drug “products” increase risk of bioterrorism as other countries could easily lace these types of products with pure poisons more deadly than synthetic chemical compounds, and wipe out our most valuable resources from one large shipment of these products – our children, and our working population utilizing these products.

            I am the director and coordinator of the Cherokee County Juvenile Drug Court in Oklahoma.  Over the last three years, I have received on average a minimum of three calls per day concerning these Spice products from youth, public schools, parents, and domestic violence victims as well.

            Across the United States numerous news reports of the detrimental effects of synthetic drug-laced products have surfaced providing a clear indication that these product pose great risks to our country.  At this point, we have no way of tracking how many deaths, or vehicle crashes have occurred as a result of the use of synthetic drug/poison laced products as standard drug testing does not test for the 400+ synthetic cannabinoids.  In 2011, there were nearly 7,000 calls to Poison Control Centers with 90% coming from health care facilities, and this year’s numbers are increasing.  Seehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/102743376/Poison-Control-Synthetic-Marijuana-K2-Spice .

            The detrimental consequences of the continued sale, and subsequent use of these products are far reaching; and further, continuing to allow the sale of these products places additional burdens on our individual state agencies in dealing with an issue we could easily reduce through collaborative federal efforts:

*Increased emergency room visits – of which many have no insurance.
*Increased liability on local and state law enforcement agencies in testing and prosecution;
*Increased domestic violence & child abuse cases which results in an increased liability on states to provide additional workers;
*Increased youth drug-related criminal acts which yields an increase in additional liabilities on states to provide youth services and placement;
*Increased mental health diagnoses, resulting in future disability claims; again resulting in greater liability to states;
*An increase in Department of Corrections allocations will be required as law enforcement enforce the various controlled substances laws;
*Further, an increase in financial liability on individual states, and thus our federal government in providing funding and services to those suffering physiological and psychological long-term effects of the use of these products.

·       Most importantly, we are leaving our citizenry of the United States open to be targets of international terrorism at the most vulnerable levels – right in our back yards.

            At this point, it is unclear as to how these products are viewed depending on which agency one discusses the issue.  If these products are not considered to be drugs, tobacco, or other products regulated by any specific agency, then it appears they fall under the “Unregulated Products” category found in the CFR.

            I need your help.  More importantly, I would request a collaborative effort from each of the agencies under your charge, specifically the CPSC, DEA, HHS, FDA, DHS and FTC.  If we do not address this issue directly by pulling products serving as conduits to delivering poisons, and controlled substances to our citizenry from the shelves of businesses, we will continue fighting the synthetic drug/poison issues for years to come.

            Today, our concerns are primarily synthetic cathinones and synthetic cannabinoids delivered via incense or potpourri products, plant fertilizer, and bath salts, as well as other known synthetic drugs such as LSD, heroin, etc; tomorrow it will be more deadly poisons delivered by vehicles or conduits that we can only imagine which truly makes this issue a bioterrorism issue.

                                                                        Respectfully requested,

Cindy Farmer, M.S.

cc: CBS Sara Aviv via email: avivs@cbsnews.com
CNN via AndersonCooper360@turner.com;
CNN via vcm@cnn.com
Bill O’Reilly at FOX via email: oreilly@foxnews.com

      Lori Fullbright (newson6) via email: lori.fullbright@newson6.net
Dan Rather Reports (Colette Carey) via email: ccarey@axs.tv; mdesalezar@axs.tv

      Karen Dobner with the ToTheMaximus Foundation via email:             tothemaximusfound@sbcglobal.net
Lance Dyer with the Dakota Dyer Foundation via email: dakodda1@yahoo.com

 References

Fattore, L., & Fratta, W. (2011, September 21). Beyond THC: the new generation of cannbinoid designer drugs.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 5(60). doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00060

James, L., Moran, J., Moran, C., & McCain, K. (2011, April). K2, Summit, and Spice: Fake ‘weed’ is not so nice.Retrieved September 21, 2012, from Mio-Online.

Johnson, L., Johnson, R., & Alfonzo, C. (2011). Spice: A legal marijuana equivalent. Military medicine, 176(6), 718-721.

Prevention, C. f. (2013). Acute kidney injury associated with synthetic cannabinoid use — multiple states, 2012.Health and Human Services. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Retrieved February 15, 2013

Rannazzisi, J. (2011). The dangers of synthetic cannabinoids and stimulants. Department of Justice.

Rannazzisi, J. T. (2011). Legislative Hearing to Address Bioterrorism, Controlled Substances and Public Health Issues. Washington: DEA.

In March, international law enforcement agencies from 55 countries voted to create an early warning system, coordinated through the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes, will enable countries to share information regarding new compounds, communications regarding purchases, and data.

The United States is in a position to gain particular benefit from an early warning system because we have historically seen synthetic chemicals on our borders a few months after some other regions.  This gives us a few months warning to start developing tests to detect these chemicals, which is one of our biggest challenges.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), under the United Nations (UN) has identified over 1,000 new synthetic compounds entering the market since 2008.

Most of these chemical compounds are developed and manufactuered in China.  International officials are currently in talks with the Chinese in attempts to ban these substances.  U.S. officials, after four years of urging China to ban these substances, have only been able to get the country to ban mephedrone, which is marketed in the United States as bath salts.

Spice, which is made with synthetic cannabinoids, can earn retail profits of $90,000 to $136,000 a pound, compared to $1,000 to $5,000 for real marijuana.

This system will be much like the early warning system that Illinois set up with ER, Illinois Poison Control and law enforcement, but on a much larger scale.

The DEA has issued a notice of intent to temporarily schedule three synthetic cannabinoids, UR-144, XLR11 and AKB48, into the Control Substances Act.

However, the agency issued the final rule to add Methylone to the list of schedule 1 drugs.

Basement Chemist
(Killer)

This means that the DEA is notifying the public that they intend to add those three synthetic cannabinoids to the schedule 1 list of controlled substances.  But, Methylone has been added to schedule 1 as of today.  Methylone is a synthetic stimulant that is often called “bath salts.”

UR-144, XLR11 and AKB48 are the cannabinoid compounds that are the subject of some debate among forensic scientists across the country regarding whether or not they are, in fact, analogues of other synthetic cannabinoids that are already listed in schedule 1.  Basically, the debate involves discussion about whether or not the indole core of the chemical is “substantially similar” to those banned.

The reason that the debate is important is because the  Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act (AEA) allows for substances to be treated as if they are on the Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 drug listing under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), if those substances can be proven to be chemically and/or pharmacologically similar to those known and scheduled illicit drugs.

“Smoking mixtures of these substances for the purpose of achieving intoxication has been identified as a reason for numerous emergency room visits and calls to poison control centers,” the Justice Department determined. “Some of the adverse health effects reported in response to the abuse of synthetic cannabinoids include vomiting, anxiety, agitation, irritability, seizures, hallucinations, tachycardia, elevated blood pressure, and loss of consciousness.”

They forgot panic attacks, anxiety disorders, psychosis, homicidal and suicidal behaviors, heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, respiratory distress, etc.

My only question, with regard to the addition of methylone to the schedule 1 list, is why only that drug?  Why not the other 14 “bath salt” chemicals that were excluded from federal legislation in June of 2012.  Those chemicals were included in HR 1254, but removed because of opposition from Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, when the measure was basically attached to S 3187 and it went up for debate.

HR 1254 was stalled in the Senate when Sen. Rand Paul opposed the Unanimous Consent Agreement, which would fast-track the bill through the senate.

When the bill was basically copied and pasted into S 3187, Sen. Leahy insisted on removing 15 “bath salt” chemicals.  Methylone was just one of those chemicals that was excluded from the bill.

There are very few people in America that have a complete understanding of the issues and challenges related to the synthetic drug industry;  public safety, local and state legislation, civil and criminal litigation, education, health risks, addiction, synthetic drug testing, homeland security, how synthetic drugs government regulations, etc.

Cindy Farmer understands this industry.

Cherokee Country Drug Court Director Cindy Farmer presented at the Cherokee Synthetic Drug Town Hall Meeting on April 4, which is one of many such forums where citizens, law enforcement and elected officials have been given the opportunity to learn from the best.

Daily, Farmer works for the Cherokee County Drug Court helping the many citizens that have fallen prey to drug dealing predators at a vulnerable time in their lives.   She is very passionate about her job and is often characterized as a workaholic by those that know her.

I don’t think that Oklahoma has any idea how lucky they are to have been blessed with  Farmer.  She has been advocating for education and effective local and state legislation for years.

Unfortunately, Farmer has been met with resistance in her battle against the greedy sociopaths that have grasped the opportunity to take advantage of Oklahoma’s vulnerable teens and young adults.

Farmer hasn’t given up in the face of opposition to heed her warnings of danger.

Luckily, the voices of reason are finally listening.

Cindy Farmer
Cherokee County Drug Court Director

In the wake of increasing ER reports, law enforcement and EMS calls and domestic violence incidences, authorities are being forced to heed Farmers warnings.

Let’s make this as clear as possible.  The synthetic drug industry is unique.  We have never, in the history of our country,  been faced with the challenges that face us today, with regard to synthetic drugs.  That may be why so many delayed the many opportunities to heed her warning.

Farmer is not a chemist, legislator, attorney, law enforcement, physician or mental health professional.  However, she is a very intelligent and passionate advocate who has spent the last three years studying the pubic safety and criminal justice challenges that synthetic drugs present.

Oklahoma has found itself behind the 8 ball because of this delay.

The good news is that the ‘Powers That Be’ are starting to listen.  Those with the authority to bring about change in Oklahoma are finally coming to the table in discussions about how they may effectively protect their constituants.

I urge them to use Farmer’s knowledge and experience in their efforts to bring about change across Oklahoma.

The To the Maximus Foundation tracks synthetic drug legislation and other efforts to police this industry.

We are always amazed in the discrepancies between the states that ‘get it’ and those that don’t.   Those that ‘got it’ are not having to be faced with the enormous drain to the public till when having to respond to the many needs of those that have fallen victim to synthetic drugs.

Mental health facilities are being forced to care for patients that are much more labor intensive than those that have fallen victim to plant based drugs.   Many victims that are now mentally handicapped become a drain on the public till because they are no longer able to care for themselves financially and are in need of mental health care.

Law enforcement is having to respond to cases that are often more labor intensive as are emergency rooms across the state.  Synthetic drug users are often violent and dangerous.

I would urge Oklahoma officials to take advantage of Farmer’s expertise.  In this new and emerging industry, there are very few people that have a complete understanding of all of the challenges and possible solutions.  They will not find anyone that knows more about this industry than Farmer.

Below is an article about the Cherokee Synthetic Drug Town Hall Meeting which Farmer presented, hosted by Reaching Our Hulbert Community (ROHC), a 501(c)3 youth organization.  Thanks ROHC for giving Farmer the opportunity to help increase awareness.

Cherokee County Drug Court raising fake pot Awareness

Cherokee County is fighting the war on synthetic marijuana head on.

The Juvenile Drug Court Director Cindy Farmer raised awareness about the dangerous effects Thursday night at the Hulbert High School auditorium to families in Green Country. One woman told FOX23’s Dontaye Carter the fake pot nearly destroyed her marriage.

“It was either that or me,” said Cleathel Faber.

She says seeing the road his life was going down made her give him an ultimatum.

“It was like he checked out on life he was no longer with us.”

Last year, when her husband stopped smoking marijuana he started using the fake stuff.

“It got so bad he was urinating blood,” Faber said.

“I have many students who say it’s nothing like marijuana,” said Farmer. “It’s more like methamphetamine.”

She showed us a chemical in the fake cannabinoid that is listed as poison.

“Kids are having strokes, they’re having seizures,” Faber said. “They’re having heart attacks they’re committing suicide. That’s a big one. The suicide is really bothersome.”

She’s taught CLEET certified synthetic marijuana classes for law enforcement. Now she’s working to bring that message home for families with a synthetic marijuana class.

“They made be sold across the counter currently but they are not safe alternatives to marijuana,” she added.

In 2010, The Drug Abuse Warning Network (Dawn) report says 12 to 29 year olds made up 75-percent of the emergency room visits for synthetic cannabinoids.

“It’s killing our young people, it’s killing our adults. We need to get it off the street,” said Faber.

Traditional models of state and local drug legislation will not work with synthetic drugs.

As fast as synthetic drug legislation is enacted, unscrupulous scientists are able to continue to provide retailers with “legal” products by developing/synthesizing new synthetic cannabinoid compounds that are not covered under state/Federal regulatory, administrative or statutory actions.

The ‘good guys’ have been dealing with the frustrations of ineffective legislation while trying to figure out how to protect American citizens from the greedy sociopaths who have found a new way to get rich by marketing these dangerous poisons to our youth.

“At his best, man is the nobelest of all animals.  Separated from law and justice, he is the worst.”  Aristotle 

However, there is an answer to the legislative challenges that face our law makers.

Before we tell the tale, can we just give a HUGE kudos to Cara Smith, former Chief of Staff for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, for being a forward thinking leader with regard to our war against the synthetic drugs.

Illinois

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Lisa Madigan led the charge in Illinois’ war against synthetic drug dealers and manufacturers.  Her office developed a battle plan that involved several state agencies, including the Illinois Poison Center.

However, it was Smith that spent many sleepless nights contemplating the challenges of legislating the synthetic drug  industry.   Her passion for this problem has netted us the solution.  The good people of Illinois owe Cara Smith a huge debt of gratitude.

In the late part of 2011 and early 2012, Madigan and Smith, with assistance from Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske, drafted legislation which went into effect in July of 2012.   We believe this legislation to be the first truly effective synthetic drug legislation in the country.

Illinois HB 5233

Illinois House Bill 5233 effectively amends the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and sets forth a definition for synthetic drug products.   The legislation targets the retail sale of synthetic drugs by defining a “synthetic drug product” as one that contains a controlled substance not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The amendment ends the game of catch up and cracks down on retail sales by classifying
as illegal any chemical sold to be taken as a drug, regardless of what it’s called or how it’s labeled.

The sociopathic drug dealers can take their “Not for Human Consumption” stamps and throw them in the garbage.

Illinois does not ban classes of chemicals, and their analogues, which has proven to be problematic in other measures, including our federal legislation, S 3187.

Education and Law Enforcement

The truth is that the war on synthetic drugs was being effectively waged in Illinois even before successful legislation was enacted.

To the Maximus Foundation was founded in July of 2011, one month after the death of my son, Max Dobner.  TTM aggressively worked with the media to educate and inform about the dangers of synthetic drugs via print, radio, TV, online, etc.  Considering the results and the timing, we will go on record as stating that the media

November 2010 to September 2012
Illinois Poison Center

attention given to this issue may have been the most effective tool in our toolbox.

Through media, TTM was able to educate the public when most adults had never even heard of “Spice” or “Bath Salts.”  And, those that were aware of these products often thought of Spice as a safe and legal alternative to marijuana.  Even more thought that our youth was misusing products.  For instance, they believed that people were actually snorting the bath salts that we have traditionally used in the bath tub.

Local ordinances were also very effective in the war against synthetic drugs in Illinois.  Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner led our local efforts by passing a city ordinance in September of 2011, which was used as a model in many dozens of municipalities throughout the state in the months that followed.  It should be noted that Mayor Weisner initiated the efforts to clean up our home town with a simple phone call that started a movement which spread through the state like wildfire. (Look for an article on effective local ordinances soon.)

As demonstrated by the graphs, it is clear that education and local ordinances are effective tools in the unique challenges that face our nation in the war against synthetic drugs.

Operation Smoke Out

During the fall of 2011, in a unique effort, Madigan started collaborating with the Illinois Poison Center,  local law enforcement, and medical professionals to collect and evaluate data on synthetic drug cases.  Armed with this information, Madigan’s office, headed by former Illinois Deputy Attorney General Michael Hood,  launched Operation Smoked Out with local police and sheriff departments.

Madigan’s office called for the Illinois Emergency Synthetic Drug Abuse Summit, which was one of the first in the country, to spearhead an intense period of .  I was honored to speak at the event, which included, IL AG Madigan, speakers representing the DEA, Commander of Souther Illinois Enforcement Group Tom McNamera, Illinois Poison Center Medical Director Dr. Michael Wahl, Winnebago Country State Attorney Joe Bruscato.  At that time, I was not able to speak as an expert, but a grieving mom giving insight into the tragedies being felt by families across the state.

“These operations are intended to put retailers on notice that synthetic drugs are illegal and have no business being sold in Illinois stores,” said Attorney General Madigan.

Operation Smoke Out involved undercover buys, testing of the confiscated products and meetings with retailers, often to educate retailers and offer them the opportunity to cease their illegal activities before charges were filed.  More than 80 retail stores voluntarily relinquished possession of their entire inventory of synthetic drug products.  These retailers also signed Synthetic Drug Community Protection Agreements committing not to re-enter the business of  selling synthetic drugs.

Smith and Hood traveled  the state for months educating law enforcement on how to investigate, enforce current legislation and obtain the community agreements from retailers.

Properly educating law enforcement is one of the most crucial aspects in the war against synthetic drugs.

“The Illinois Poison Center acted as a “canary in the coal mine” on the synthetic drug issue;  first identifying the trend of synthetic drug use in Illinois and providing a majority of the surveillance and tracking data on these chemicals” (Synthetic Drugs, Illinois Poison Center Reports)

The collection of this data played a critical role in the efforts of law enforcement and legislators.

It is very noteworthy that through the coordinated efforts of many organizations, including the To the Maximus Foundation, Illinois was able to bring the number of our synthetic drug poison control calls for synthetic drugs from 33% over the national average to 60% below the average BEFORE effective legislation was in effect.  HB 5233 was signed by Governor Quinn in July 2012.

 New York

In the wake of Illinois’ success, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman looked into their existing labeling laws and found exactly what he needed to wage war in his state.

Under New York State’s labeling law, the packaging of consumer commodities must, at a minimum, identify the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, the common product name, the net quantity of contents, and the net quantity of servings, uses or applications represented to be present with appropriate directions and warnings for customary use.

Clearly, our drug dealers were not in compliance.

On  August 14, 2012 the Honorable William J. Giacomo, Supreme Court, Westchester County, NY signed a consent order and judgment demanding mislabeled or unlabeled products, including synthetic marijuana and other intoxicants, be permanently removed from the store shelves.

“The proliferation of synthetic drugs has become a crisis in Rockland County, New York State and across the country. The Judge’s order proves that, by taking a creative approach in using the state’s existing labeling laws, we can get swift results to remove dangerous synthetic drugs off store shelves and hold sellers accountable for breaking the law,” said Schneiderman. “We will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to combat the growing and dangerous synthetic drug epidemic.”

Other Legislative Solutions: Pharmacy and Health Board Rulings

Health and Pharmacy Board orders can be used as temporary measures until more effective legislation in enacted.  Although they usually lack the penalties that are desirable by most, they are helpful tools in keeping these dangerous poisons off the shelves.

Before New York started using the labeling legislation, New York Department of Health issued new regulations expanding the existing list of  prohibited drugs and chemicals and slightly increasing the penalties.  We have to admit that the penalties were practically non-existent, however beggars cant’t be choosey.

The Georgia Pharmacy Board issued an Adoption of Emergency Rule on June 12, 2012 adding chemicals to Schedule 1 and giving law enforcement the authority to seize synthetic drugs that are not currently listed as Schedule 1, but listing the individual chemicals and amending the order periodically.  Chemicals are added regularly as they enter the market.

Several states, such as Arizona and Minnesota, are currently litigating cases using  current public nuisance laws.   We are not aware of any cases that have been adjudicated.

Legal Challenges

Unfortunately, none of these measures have yet been challenged in the courts, with the exception of NY AG Schneiderman’s use of the labeling law, therefore it is hard to be able to say which legislation is ‘better’ than the others.  Our current crop of drug dealers have entered plea agreements, having chosen not to risk more serious charges or penalties in the trial process.  There are a few cases that we are watching and expecting challenges from, but they are still in the early phases of prosecution.  However, TTM’s position is that the most successful legislation will address the mislabeling and misbranding of drugs/chemicals.  

Creative Thinking

We encourage law enforcement and public safety personnel to examine legislation within your state for creative solutions to the challenges presented by the synthetic drug industry, whose sole purpose is to profit off of our vulnerable citizenry.

We encourage law enforcers to search current legislation that addresses how dangerous chemicals can be handled, manufactured, marketed, shipped, etc.  There is ample evidence that these compounds are dangerous.  Most synthetic cannabinoid compounds are identified as “Poison” on material safety data sheets, with the exception of the newer chemicals.

The point is, where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Just when we thought that we’ve seen everything, some sociopathic scientist got a mad genius idea to mix a brand new synthetic cannabinoid with cathinones, or ‘Bath Salts.’  This new class of designer drug was studied by investigators from the National Institute of Health Sciences in Tokyo in a report published in Forensic Science International.

Dirk Hanson wrote an article about the report (another words, he dummied it up for us) in his “Addiction Blog.”   So, I’m dummying it up a little more for those of us that failed science class.

Investigators found a “completely new type of designer drug, URB-754,” which they purchased over the internet.  This new synthetic cannabinoid compound was found to be blended with a cathinone (“bath salts”) derivative called 4-Me-MABP.

A completely unknown compound was also found “which is deduced to be the product of a reaction between URB-754 and the cathinone, 4-Me-MABP.  This new designer amphetamine, called (N,5-dimethyl-N-(1-oxo-1-(p-tolyl)butan-2-yl)-2-(N′-(p-tolyl)ureido)benzamide).

It still doesn’t have a name.

The completely new designer drug is yet another new class of chemicals.

Furthermore, a tryptamine derivative (psychedelic) 4-hydroxy-diethyltryptamine (4-OH-DET), was detected to have been blended with a synthetic cannabinoid, APINACA, in the same product.

Investigators are reporting that the trend is to blend different types of synthetic drugs, such as cannabinoids, cathinones, amphetamines, psychedelics.  And, for the mass market, I’m sure we’ll see them flavored with kid-friendly flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum, cherry, etc.   Sociopaths have no boundaries.  They are already making laced lollypops, cookies, and other yummy concoctions in many different sweet flavors.  What’s next?

It was also reported that they found 12 new synthetic cannabinoids in their purchases.

To sum it up, we are not only finding new cannabinoids on the market regularly, but we are seeing new classes of chemicals.  And, the new class of chemicals is a product of a blend of synthetic cannabinoids with ‘Bath Salts’ (cathinones) which created a derivative synthetic amphetamine.  Yikes!!!

This is why it is crucial for legislators to understand that banning classes of chemicals  will NOT work.

In Illinois, we have blanket legislation that bans any chemical, if it’s sold as a drug and not regulated by the FDA.  It’s an amendment to the Food and Cosmetic Act that makes it illegal to mislabel and misbrand chemicals sold as drugs.  It doesn’t matter what it’s called or if it’s stamped “Not for Human Consumption.”  ANY chemical that is misbranded is illegal.

There will always be new classes of chemicals introduced on the market to bypass legislation if our law makers continue to write legislation that banns classes of chemicals.

Even with blanket legislation across the country, drug dealers will be motivated to introduce new chemicals in order to meet the demand for new drugs that can’t be detected in drug tests.

For all these reasons, education is crucial.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the latest indictment against synthetic cannabinoids (SC) in the February 15 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report directly linking kidney damage to synthetic cannabinoids.  We had been warning  about renal damage for almost a year, so it’s great news when case studies are reported confirming our warnings.

Also, University of Alabama at Birmingham nephrologists have reported 4 cases of acute kidney injury directly linked with synthetic cannabinoid use in a study which will be published in the March issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The authors of the UAB report recommend that physicians inquire about the use of designer drugs when evaluating patients with acute kidney injury — especially in cases where the cause is unknown and the urine drug screen is negative.

Management of suspected SC toxicity is systemic (step-by-step) and should be medically supervised; no antidote exists.

The UAB report outlined four different cases of previously healthy young men whose acute kidney injury was linked to ingestion of synthetic marijuana. All the patients were residents of the same northeastern Alabama community and presented to UAB or a community hospital within a nine-week period showing symptoms of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain after using synthetic marijuana.

Co-author Gaurav Jain, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Nephrology said, “It is very likely that a possible nephrotoxin adulterated the preparation used by our patients.”  Adulterated means “to make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element.”  I know what he meant, but an untrained mind might think he was saying, “The poison’s been poisoned!”  After all, most synthetic cannabinoids are categorized as “poison” on the Material Data Safety Sheets, which are legally required by legitimate laboratories to handle and ship.

Use of synthetic cannabinoids is relatively new and authorities are just beginning to gather the information required to be able to make such an assumption.

Our experience tells us that the young people effected with medical conditions and mental disorders often do not make the connection to their use of spice. It’s worth saying that prior to 2012 many, if not most, medical professionals often were not aware of the many side effects of synthetic cannabinoids.  Most did not even know of the existence of synthetic cathinones and cannabinoids.

Victims exhibiting signs of drug use were given standard drug tests and rarely were tested for synthetic drugs.   Even if they were tested for synthetics, the tests were unreliable, at best.

One of the reports indicates that medical professionals believed that the kidney damage may have been caused by the solvents used to make Spice.

It’s been reported that renal failure may be a result of use of the newest SC on the market.  They fail to consider that medical professionals often did not even know of the existence of SC chemicals and tests were rarely used to even attempt to detect them in patients.  Also, synthetic drug testing was unreliable, at best.

They also don’t consider that medical professionals may not have made the connection between the kidney damage and the drug because the causation hadn’t been reported yet. “Cases of acute coronary syndrome associated with synthetic marijuana use have been reported, but our publication is the first to associate use with acute kidney injury,” said  Jain,  “Tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and seizures have also been reported with synthetic cannabinoids.”

We’ve been reporting the link between kidney damage and synthetic cannabinoids (SC) for almost a year, after the first reports came out of Casper, Wyoming where three people were hospitalized with kidney failure and a dozen others were sickened from smoking Spice.

A few months later, authorities in Alabama reported 30 people hospitalized in as a result of renal damage after smoking SC.  Investigators were quoted as saying that they were ”working to find the tainted spice,” which spurred a phrase that many of us who fight this industry have used repeatedly thereafter:  ”The poison’s been poisoned!”

It is currently unknown how synthetic cannabinoids cause kidney damage. However, an analysis of synthetic marijuana samples smoked by the individuals in the CDC study who suffered kidney damage found that five samples contained a substance known as XLR-11, which has only recently been found in synthetic marijuana products.

XLR-11 was first identified (in SC products) by laboratories in 2012. We do not believe that XLR-11 has a monopoly on kidney damaging qualities.  We believe that those included in the studies were only a fraction of the total number of kidney damaged victims.

Our logs are loaded with testimonials from people whose nightmares were never reported or were not reported to be attributed to SC.  Young people historically do not confess to authorities about taking drugs.  We receive reports almost daily from people that will give us testimonials, but admit to lying to law enforcement and medical professionals.

One young woman comes to mind who underwent a number of tests, including an MRI of the brain,  after experiencing repeated seizures following ingestion of SC.  She’s been treated for a year for her seizures and has been diagnosed with epilepsy.

In the CDC study, kidney function recovery was apparent within 3 days of creatinine peak in most patients. However, five of the 16 patients required hemodialysis, and four patients received corticosteroids; none died.

However, risk of long-term kidney disease continues for years. Recent studies suggest an increased risk for chronic renal disease following kidney injuriess, despite initial recovery (Coca SG, Singanamala S, Parikh CR. Chronic kidney disease after kidney injury: a systemic review and meta-analysis. Kid Int 2012;81:442–8).

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“Synthetic Marijuana Linked to Acute Kidney Injury” http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779161

“Kidney failure cases linked to synthetic drug”  http://m.eastoregonian.com/mobile/news/local_news/kidney-failure-cases-linked-to-synthetic-drug/article_d4fc444c-2314-11e2-802a-001a4bcf887a.html