K2, Spice now Illegal! Now Schedule I--

[QVC1212]

Here is the link to the article and the article itself:
News from DEA, Domestic Field Divisions, Washington DC News Releases, 03/01/11

MAR 01 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today exercised its emergency scheduling authority to control five chemicals (JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol) used to make so-called “fake pot” products. Except as authorized by law, this action makes possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the United States. This emergency action was necessary to prevent an imminent threat to public health and safety. The temporary scheduling action will remain in effect for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) further study whether these chemicals should be permanently controlled.

The Final Order was published today in the Federal Register to alert the public to this action. These chemicals will be controlled for at least 12 months, with the possibility of a six month extension. They are designated as Schedule I substances, the most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I substances are reserved for those substances with a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use for treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.

Over the past couple of years, smokeable herbal products marketed as being “legal” and as providing a marijuana-like high, have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. These products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops, and over the Internet. These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process. Brands such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn” are labeled as herbal incense to mask their intended purpose.

Since 2009, DEA has received an increasing number of reports from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products. At least 16 states have already taken action to control one or more of these chemicals. The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to allow the DEA Administrator to place a substance temporarily in schedule I when it is necessary to avoid an imminent threat to the public safety. Emergency room physicians report that individuals that use these types of products experience serious side effects which include: convulsions, anxiety attacks, dangerously elevated heart rates, increased blood pressure, vomiting, and disorientation.

“Young people are being harmed when they smoke these dangerous ‘fake pot’ products and wrongly equate the products' ‘legal’ retail availability with being ‘safe’,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. “Parents and community leaders look to us to help them protect their kids, and we have not let them down. Today’s action, while temporary, will reduce the number of young people being seen in hospital emergency rooms after ingesting these synthetic chemicals to get high.”

My personal opinion is Bravo to the DEA! These products have no place on the market. If you're gonna smoke mj, get your medical card and smoke the real deal (of course federal law still prohibits this however), don't risk your life with these bogus and dangerous imposters.

I forgot to mention: the emergency scheduling, in other words its illegality, goes into effect 30 days after the announcement. In other words, 30 days after this post, it will be considered a schedule I drug. Right now, its status is pending.

[NYJets]

I knew this was only a matter of time. I believe weed is also Scheduled I, but the penalties are much more releaxed and in most cases it is similar to that of a Sched IV drug. I wonder what they will do this with in regards to penalties and enforcement.

[alexer34]

Damn, I knew this was going to happen.. but this was pretty fast

[makaveli25]

I heard it has given people pretty severe mental problems from one time use. I forgot exactly what the medical term was. Pretty scary. I would be wary about smoking something synthetic like that.

[QVC1212]

@makaveli25 Two known and observed effects are hallucinations and psychosis(break from reality). MJ is much less likely to cause those effects. Hence, I advise everyone to stay away from these dangerous synthetic versions.

[makaveli25]

@makaveli25 Two known and observed effects are hallucinations and psychosis(break from reality). MJ is much less likely to cause those effects. Hence, I advise everyone to stay away from these dangerous synthetic versions.

Agreed! Why even mess with it if weed is so easy to get.

[eda900]

Long time coming... crazy stuff.

[Kareigirl66]

Maybe it's the thought that counts? Because there are literally thousands of other unscheduled synthetic cannabanoids which the people producing spice have already switched to. Each chemical compound can be changed ever so slightly and you will have a new legal drug. Nice try dea, how about we skip this game and just make marijuana available for legal purchase by adults the same way alcohol is?

[Sup3rman]

Wow just crazy. I've tried spice and it absolutely sucks imo. You have to smoke so much to feel anything and what little you do feel pales in compared to marijuana. More than likely the shit gives you a buzz from lack of oxygen to the brain.

[Ira Pistov]

Exactly what is the justification behind banning this stuff? Has it proven to be harmful? Has anyone here actually known anyone that had a genuinly life threatening experience on it? I have'nt and I know people that smoke that crap. I dont believe the stories about people being hospitalized... sounds like the same old BS scare tactics they always use, like all the stories about people droping acid then falling to their deaths thinking they could fly by jumping out of a 10 story window. If anyone was hospitalized it was probably because they were just paranoid and freaking out or something.
Why is it that some people just can't tolerate other people having a little fun and experimenting with an altered state of consciousness? What makes these people so uptight? I tried spice once out of curiosity... It didn't seem like a big deal to me. Certainly not ban worthy in my opinion. Meanwhile tobacco kills close to half a million people per year and its available on every corner market.

Personally I think it's high time (no pun intended) they legalized actual marijuana. It's so absurd that someone can outlaw a plant. This country is so friggin' backwards. (sigh)

[Pmpdadinc]

Actually the acid thing is true, at least in France. They had at leas two large outbreaks of ergot acid in contaminated wheat. One outbreak was termed "The day of St. Anthony's Fire" and there were confirmed reports of people jumping out of two story windows, and I believe there was an instance when the US govt was doing their testing, but yeah the DEA sucks.

[QVC1212]

All of you are looking at the DEA the wrong way. The DEA is not the enemy!! They are entrusted with protecting the public's health and welfare, by enforcing the laws which prohibit dangerous drugs. k2 and spice are clearly dangerous drugs, even more dangerous than natural drugs which act on endocannibinoid receptors such as marijuana, which is why they have emergency scheduled it. If you ask me, they should have done it even sooner.

Or do you think psychosis and hallucinations are a good thing? Do you want to be driving on a road with someone experiencing psychosis or hallucinating? Not me. Ban it. And marijuana is proven to affect judgment while operating a motor vehicle. Ban that too (oh wait a minute, that's already banned, isn't it? it's just the dumb-ass states that think they they can override federal law, when they CAN'T)

Personally, although I think they go overboard in pursuing doctors prescribing painkillers, I think when they do things like emergency schedule K2 and Spice, they are acting in all of our best interests. Whether you like it or not.

So go ahead. Break the law and use Spice for whatever pathetic buzz you get off of it. You'll face the consequences.

[Ira Pistov]

Alcohol is legal but not drinking and driving. Marijuana should be the same way... just dont smoke and drive. Marijuana is hardly a dangerous drug. Certainly safer than alcohol in my opinion. Oh and btw I dont even smoke weed or that fake spice crap (though I have tried it) and I still think it should be legal.
But you know what I think should be banned(at least while driving)? Cellphones. I have seen so many people get into car accidents when talking/texting on cellphones while driving. It's insane. How did these people ever surrvive before their precious cellphones were invented?

[Sup3rman]

Mods when you read this please delete my pending post in this thread as I meant to write it in the "Essay on Legality of Online Pharmacies" thread.

[tinmuning]

Mods when you read this please delete my pending post in this thread as I meant to write it in the "Essay on Legality of Online Pharmacies" thread.

deleted already!

[Untruthitudes]

does anyone else think it's hypocritical (and illogical) to support procurement of prescription medication without a prescription, and then rail against marijuana? i agree with Ira, marijuana should be legalized.

[QVC1212]

@Untruthitudes Where in my post do I support obtaining prescription medication without a prescription? Nowhere.

I'm not naive. I suspect a good number of members are in search of medications for which they either lack prescriptions, or have expired prescriptions, or are waiting to see their doctors for the prescriptions. But I rarely, if ever, encourage it. I'm not in the mood to debate marijuana legalization, though I'm against it due to the slippery slope argument. If you'll notice the topic of the thread was on K2 and Spice, which I deem to be more problematic than traditional marijuana. Therefore, I support the emergency scheduling of these dangerous drugs.

If you're really bored, you could probably research and find evidence of hypocrisy in anyone's posts. But I don't think in this particular case I was being hypocritical.

[going4broke]

It's foolish to think the DEA exists to protect us. It exists to monitor and control the sale and distribution of illicit substances. In my opinion, the DEA used to be funded by criminal activity. One agent said the DEA would "loan" the CIA drugs. The CIA would use drugs for countless endevours deemed essential for intelligence gathering. Suprisingly, that agent is still in federal prison for basically whistleblowing. It's documented how the CIA has ordered the DEA to "look the other way" when drugs were smuggled into the country. A guerilla outfit needing funds to stage a coo against an enemy of the state in Central America was allowed to do just that.

[dusteddisgusted]

I think the DEA did everyone a favor by scheduling this chemicals, as no one has any idea what the long term effects are. They were designed to study the effect of cannbinoids, not for human consumption. Although I think the downside of them scheduling them will be that the "legal high" manufacturers just use more obscure and untested replacements. They should just decriminalize it and be done with. Use the money they save to actually do something that benefits the people.

[QVC1212]

From DEA.gov"

The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets.

Does it explicitly say "protect the health and welfare of the people"? No. But:

1) illegal drugs (and even legal prescription drugs trafficked illicitly) endanger the health and welfare of the American people.
2) DEA's explicit mission is to enforce the laws to stem the flow of illicitly trafficked legal or illegal controlled substances.
3) Therefore, DEA's implicit mission is to protect the health and welfare of the American people.

@going4broke I don't do conspiracy theories, and I feel sorry for those who do because their perception of reality is seriously warped.