By Angeljean Chiaramida Staff writer The Daily News of Newburyport Sat Feb 05, 2011, 03:57 AM EST
SEABROOK — A few months after the Drug Enforcement Agency banned K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids products sold as potpourri and incense, a group of concerned Seabrook residents is now bringing the fight against the intoxicating substances to the local level.
The residents have offered a citizens petition for the annual town warrant seeking a town ban on the sale of synthetic cannabinoids, including K2, salvia and spice.
When smoked, K2 and the other products are said to have the same intoxicating results as marijuana on the human body. The DEA was so worried about the growing misuse of the products that the federal watchdog agency in November used its emergency powers to ban the substances for at least a year.
At the request of Winnacunnet High School board member Maria Brown, the Board of Selectmen last month voted to recommend its support of the article. Selectman Aboul Khan said he'd done research on the products and agreed they should not be sold in Seabrook.
Whether a small community can ban the general sale of a product that has not yet been determined to be a controlled substance is a moot issue, since the DEA has already begun to take action.
But supporters say the message being sent to young people and retailers alike is clear: Stay away from K2 or any similar products known as "fake weed" or "fake pot," and don't sell it in Seabrook.
According to the DEA, K2 and other similar products are herbal/spice blends sprayed with synthetic chemicals, which produce the effect of marijuana when smoked in joints or pipes. On Nov. 24, the DEA made it illegal to possess or sell the chemicals used to make K2-like products for at least a year. In the meantime, the agency and the federal Department of Health and Human Services are considering permanently adding the chemicals to the federal list of controlled substances.
"Prior to the Nov. 24 temporary control (issued by the DEA), you could find K2 anywhere," said Seabrook Detective Brett Walker, a former member of the New Hampshire attorney general's Drug Task Force. "Since that time, though, I haven't seen it on shelves."
According to the DEA fact sheet on K2, the product is also sold under the brand names of Bilss, Black Mamba, Bombay Blue, Fake Weed, Genie and Zohai. It typically is sold in small plastic bags that contain what looks like dried leaves and is marketed as incense or potpourri. Nationwide, it has been found primarily in head shops, tobacco stores and other retail establishments, as well as on the Internet.
When it acted in November, DEA officials said the agency had received an increasing number of reports from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement agencies regarding problems with the product.
So far, manufacturers of the products are not regulated, and the chemicals used in it are not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, according to the DEA.
For more information on K2, Walker recommends visiting www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/drugs/k2.html?v=0&t=0&p=1&f=0&df=0&dt=0.
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