Drug Enforcement Administration to Put Temporary Ban on Synthetic Marijuana

Nov. 24, 2010— -- The Drug Enforcement Administration said today that it will ban five chemicals used to produce synthetic marijuana, making the product illegal to sell or possess in the United States.

The move comes as a wave of young people across the country has embraced synthetic marijuana, which was sold legally in many places, as a way to get high.

The temporary ban on chemicals in fake pot will go into effect sometime in the next 30 days, the DEA said today in a news release. The ban will be in place for at least a year as the federal government considers whether to control the substances permanently.

"Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that 'fake pot' is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case," DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart wrote in the statement.

"Today's action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products."

Also known as K2 or Spice, synthetic marijuana is a mixture of common herbs sprayed with synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of marijuana. A disclaimer on the packages stating that it is not for human consumption had allowed the substance to remain on store shelves, until now.

Sold as incense in head shops, tobacco stores and even in gas stations, its popularity has soared. In at The sale of synthetic marijuana had already been banned by legislatures in at least 12 states, including Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky. It's also banned in some cities in Texas.

There have been more than 500 cases of adverse reactions to synthetic marijuana across the country in the past year, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The number has risen exponentially, with the organization only citing six reported incidents from the year before.

Paul Hausladen, 20, said his life began to fall apart after he became addicted to the drug.

"It's the type of drug that once you use it once, you have no control over how you are going to use," Hausladen said. "I could walk into a tobacco store and just buy whatever I wanted, however much I wanted."

For young people such as Hausladen, smoking Spice often sends people to the emergency room. In his Minneapolis suburb, emergency incidents resulting from the drug have risen exponentially in the past 18 months.