The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a warning to neighborhood stores in the San Diego region to stop selling fake marijuana products that were temporarily banned last week because of their links to health problems.
The products have been sold as incense under such brands as "Spice," and "K2" but have been used particularly by young people to smoke because of the marijuana-high effects that they produce.
"They're now illegal. They're to be treated the same as heroin, the same as marijuana," said Bill James, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration San Diego Field Office.
"People who are selling them are subject to arrest and DEA is going to be active seizing those products."
The warning was made at a news conference Friday at Crawford High School near 58th Street in San Diego, organized by Mid-City residents who are targeting the sale of fake pot, known as "spice" in their neighborhood.
"I am totally upset with what is going on with the sale of synthetic marijuana that people are selling at the stores like regular merchandise," said Dolores Sandoval, a City Heights parent who works with the Cinco de Mayo con Orgullo Coalition, a project of SAY San Diego.
Abigail Figueroa, a member of the Latino Youth Council and a Hoover High School freshman, said her group is actively opposing the sale of fake pot and have started a Facebook page called "Think Twice Before Selling Spice" to help with their campaign.
"If a retailer chooses to sell Spice or other fake pot products my friends will not shop at his store. We will take our business to other stores that don't sell dangerous products that can damage our community," Figueroa said.
James said authorities have seen an increase in the sale of fake marijuana products and complaints during the past six months.
The fake marijuana products consist of plant material that has been coated with chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption.
The U.S. government is banning the sale of five chemicals used to make these products for at least one year while their safety is studied.
Emergency room physicians report cases of serious side effects as a result of smoking fake pot, including convulsions, anxiety attacks, dangerously elevated heart rates, increased blood pressure, vomiting, and disorientation.
"It is tragic that young people out for a good time and being cool end up sick or disabled because of spice and such substances," said Dr. Roneet Lev, director of Operations and Emergency Room at Scripps Mercy Hospital. "This has to stop."
Leonel.sanchez@sandiegored.com
