Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 Source: News-Journal (Mansfield, OH) Copyright: 2011 News-Journal. Contact: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/customerservice/contactus.html Website: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2413 Author: Kathy Thompson DEA WARNS PARENTS TO WATCH OUT FOR PRODUCTS LABELED 'INCENSE' The Drug Enforcement Agency has a warning to parents -- if your child wants to be buy some herbal incense, be aware they may be purchasing a potentially harmful product. Just like bath salts -- a phenomenon that has nothing to do with scented bath water additives -- a product known as Mad Hatter incense is being sold in central Ohio. Instead of sticks designed to burn and emit fragrant scents, this incense is a green leafy substance that can cause medical issues from increased heart rates to hallucinations. The incense is actually a form of synthetic marijuana. While the state has taken steps to make it illegal, at the moment it is not. On Friday, Gov. John Kasich signed into law House Bill 64 that makes synthetic marijuana, commonly known as Spice or K2, illegal to sell or possess by adding it to the list of Schedule I controlled substances. The law goes into effect in October. Pitfalls of use Synthetic marijuana being marketed as incense can be purchased at various convenience stores. From a law enforcement standpoint, it hasn't caused many issues. From a medical point of view, it's use is already resulting in visits to regional hospitals. David Davis, registered nurse, who is director of the Emergency Services and Trauma Unit for Genesis, said emergency personnel at the hospitals have seen several cases in the past few months -- the latest being Thursday night. "Patients are coming in agitated, vomiting, in seizures, paranoid or having hallucinations," Davis said. "The reactions are similar to those when ingesting the bath salts that seem to be on the rise." Bath salts have caused any number of medical problems in the community. The state has banned them, too, but like with synthetic marijuana, it will take time for the law to go into effect. Mad Hatter comes in 3-gram, green packages, which are clearly marked "not for human consumption," and it states the manufacturer is not responsible for misuse. Yet people are ingesting and smoking the leafy substance that costs about $25 a pack. Dr. Marcel Casavant, of the Central Ohio Poison Control Center in Columbus, said Ohio and the rest of the nation has seen an increase in people having adverse reactions from the ingestion of the incense or synthetic marijuana. "It makes people crazy," Casavant said. "We've seen them come in our emergency rooms agitated, their heart rates are spinning, they're vomiting, having hallucinations. Sometimes it takes sedatives to calm them down." Casavant also knows of one case where a patient was in a coma. "We've not had any reported deaths, but I would say that this product may kill you," Casavant said. In 2010, there were 2,874 calls nationally to poison control centers related to this synthetic marijuana. In Ohio there were 36 cases. Through the end of May 2011, there were 2,052 cases reported nationally and 26 in Ohio. "We did see a decrease in cases at the end of last year, but they jumped again in the past couple of months," Casavant said. "This is a completely different substance than marijuana. We don't see the types of effects from marijuana as we're seeing with this product. It's a very, very serious and dangerous product." Changing chemicals The DEA has banned five chemicals -- JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH -200, CP47, 497 and cannabicyclohexanol -- that are used to make the incense. In February the DEA made it illegal to sell or possess synthetic marijuana with those particular chemicals for at least a year while they study whether the chemicals used in the production should be permanently controlled. Yet the product continues as manufacturers change the chemicals used. Dawn Dearden, DEA spokeswoman, said one of the dangers of the product is that the consumer has no idea what chemicals have been used. "We do know the chemicals are not for human consumption," Dearden said. "When people ingest this stuff, they have no clue how high it's going to get them or what it really is going to do to them." Dearden said the product is "very frightening." "We are wanting to spread the word to parents that they should be very aware of what their children are buying," Dearden said. "If there is a child that is interested in buying herbal incense, that parent needs to be paying close attention. The child or teen isn't going to be burning incense." By making laws that include myriad chemicals, officials hope to keep future products from being manufactured. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Kasich, by signing House Bill 64, will help protect Ohio families by making this drug and other designer drugs illegal. "These drugs have devastating effects on those who use them," DeWine said. "It puts local law enforcement in danger as well as when people are under their influence." DeWine said the new law will give local law enforcement and county prosecutors the ability to go after products that are similar in chemical structure to Schedule I or II drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.