Synthetic PUFF, Synthetic PUFF, Synthetic PASS!

Fake Marijuana, Real High, Legal - at least for now!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Fake Weed (Spice, Genie, K2) Getting Kids High, But There's Nothing Cops Can Do!


JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CBS/A) It smokes like marijuana, gets users high like marijuana, it even sells at prices similar to marijuana – but new blends of herbs and spices called K2, Wicked, Spice are completely legal and law enforcement is struggling to figure out how to handle it.

"A 10-year-old child could walk into a head shop and buy it," said Shawn Rhoads, a police detective in West Plains, Mo. "It's not a tobacco, it's not regulated by anything. It would be like sending my 10-year-old son into Wal-Mart to buy potpourri."

The substance, often called "Spice," "Genie," or "Zohai" is sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC and mostly made in China. It's smoked in joints or pipes, just like the real deal.

The key ingredients are believed to be the unintended result of scientific research.

Dr. John Huffman, a Clemson University organic chemistry professor, was researching the effects of cannabinoids on the brain when his work resulted in a 1995 paper that contained the method and ingredients used to make the compound. That recipe found its way to marijuana users, who replicated Huffman's work and began spraying it onto dried flowers, herbs and tobacco.

It's banned in much of Europe, but not yet regulated in the States. That's likely to change. A Missouri bill seeks to make possession punishable. A Kansas bill would make possession a misdemeanor.

Legal for now - Enjoy it now while you can!