Pubdate: Sun, 01 Dec 2013
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2013 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Dane Schiller

'NASTY STUFF' OPENS NEW DRUG WAR FRONT

More than 1 million packets of a dangerous, unpredictable new breed 
of drug were seized in the Houston area by the DEA in the past two 
years, yet criminal charges are rare for those who make, sell or use them.

The packets, sold as potpourri or incense, are among the more popular 
brands of so-called synthetic marijuana taking center stage in a new 
front in the war on drugs.

On a recent afternoon, glossy packets of strawberry-flavored "Kush" 
lay side by side in a lighted glass display case, just past the bongs 
and pipes, at a Houston-area shop. The mixture inside looks like 
dried, finely crushed green leaves. It is smoked like pot but packs a 
far different punch - and is fueling the never-ending search for ways 
to get high.

"This is a new frontier for drugs and drug traffickers," said Rusty 
Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. "I want 
to shout it from the roof tops: This is nasty stuff."

Despite pressure from law enforcement, users still don't have to go 
to underground dealers to score. Instead, they just visit smoke shops 
and convenience stores that sell the products.

Houston has a key role in the popularity of the drugs. It is not only 
a large marketplace for them, but they are covertly made here and 
shipped to other regions, according to court documents.

Doctors said the substances - technically classified as synthetic 
cannabinoids - can be aggressive, unstable and damaging.

Hearts race. Blood pressure soars. Seizures can be unleashed.

Paranoia is known to grip some users, as well as agitation and 
suicidal tendencies that can last five or six hours and land them in 
emergency rooms.

"They come in, and they are wild and psychotic and sometimes have a 
distinct smell," said Dr. Spencer Greene, director of medical 
toxicology for Baylor College of Medicine. "They are going to be kind 
of wild and kind of crazy, and potentially very sick."

Part of the problem is that the potency of the drugs can vary so 
greatly, and that users can never be sure what they are smoking.

Emily Bauer, a 17-yearold former user who lives in Cypress, learned 
just how bad they can be on a Friday night in 2012.

She smoked a packet, as she had done many times before, and ended up 
suffering what her family has been told was a series of strokes.

"I am improving constantly, and my vision is getting better," she 
said, noting that she continues with high school thanks to people who 
read textbooks aloud to her and help her write.

Bauer and her parents have been sharing her story publicly in hopes 
that others will avoid the drugs. She said it just is not accurate to 
compare what she smoked to marijuana.

"It is more like smoking bleach," she said.

Banned at trade shows

They come in colorful packets with dozens of other brand names, 
including Scooby Snax and Hello Kitty. The packages look like packets 
of candy and cost from $6 to $20, depending on the size.

They carry warnings that the contents are not for human consumption 
and sometimes incorrectly note contents are legal.

Authorities contend the language is just an attempt to dodge state 
and federal laws.

In schemes reminiscent of the popular crime drama "Breaking Bad," 
rogue chemists repeatedly tweak compounds to create new generations 
of designer drugs faster than laws can catch them.

"Trained chemists know exactly what they are doing," said Jeff 
Walterscheid, a toxicologist with the Harris County Institute of 
Forensic Sciences.

He noted that tweaking one molecule can make a new drug.

Dozens of such deviations of synthetic cannabinoids have been 
identified in the past few years, according to the DEA, and the list 
of what is out there is believed to be growing weekly.

To prepare the drugs for consumption, chemicals - usually white 
powdery mixtures - are often imported from China where they were 
prepared by chemists who keep an eye on U.S. laws, according to the DEA.

After U.S.-based manufacturers get those chemicals, they are often 
dissolved in acetone and then sprayed over leafy material, dried and 
spritzed with flavors such as grape, strawberry or cherry. Then they 
are poured into packages that are delivered in bulk to stock the 
shelves of retailers.

A manufacturing operation in Stafford was shut down by police in 
September after five day laborers staggered to an ambulance company 
looking for help. They had been overcome by fumes.

The factory was in an industrial park and a few hundred yards from a 
day care center. All that was left behind on a recent visit to the 
site was a scattering of crushed leaves in a carpeted office and a 
small black and blue packet labeled Amsterdam Dreams Potpourri.

Manufacturers of these substances aren't considered nearly as violent 
as drug-cartel gangsters, but turf wars flare up.

Authorities point to a brutal dispute between two manufacturers. One 
stormed into the other's business on Harwin, doused him with 
gasoline, and threatened to set him ablaze if he didn't stop stealing 
a brand name.

The dispute faded. No one was arrested.

Jeff Hirschfeld, president of Champs, which holds national trade 
shows for thousands of smoke shop owners, said two years ago he 
decided to ban synthetic marijuana vendors from his events.

"There are so many states that don't allow it, we just did not think 
it was proper," he said.

"I am a grandfather of six, and I would not really recommend it for 
my grandkids," he said. "I have not tried it, but I know people who 
have. Some say good, some say bad, but I'm not comfortable with it."

Users vary from high school kids to working professionals. The drug 
also doesn't show up in urine tests for marijuana, which might appeal 
to people on parole or job applicants. Not meant for humans

In the past two years in Houston, synthetic cannabinoids were in the 
system of a person who hanged himself, another who was hit by an 
allegedly drunken driver while walking along a tollway, and another 
who was shot to death, according to the Harris County Institute of 
Forensic Sciences.

Users are playing roulette with their lives, said Walterscheid, the 
Harris County toxicologist.

"You cannot look at a container of Kush Apple and know what is in 
it," he said. "When buying a package that looks the same every day 
for a year, you could be getting something different every single time."

John Huffman, a South Carolina chemist who years ago led a team that 
developed synthetic cannabinoids while researching under a federal 
grant, said some strains now being copied could easily be 50 times 
more potent than marijuana.

"They are all dangerous. Don't use them," said Huffman, who retired 
four years ago. "They were never designed for this."

The substances were tested on animals but were never to be used by humans.

Criminal charges rarely are filed as cases involving these emerging 
drugs bring on a host of new scientific, medical and legal complexities.

Clinical tests have not yet been conducted on humans on any of these 
drugs, so it can be tough to prove the extent of their harm. Experts 
could also clash over whether the ingredients of a given drug make it 
illegal, among other issues.

People who knowingly make or sell synthetic cannabinoids for human 
consumption can face federal charges. Possession of some of those 
substances, regardless of weight, can in some cases be a misdemeanor in Texas.

"We have been taking an active role trying to classify more of these, 
make more of them fall in the penal code," said Marcy McCorvey, 
division chief of the major narcotics division of the Harris County 
District Attorney's Office.

She said that prosecutors are handcuffed by insufficient laws, but if 
they can make a case, they will take it to court.

"It is very frustrating. I know of police officers who are out there 
trying to combat the problem," McCorvey said. "I understand parents 
who want it off the shelves. I wish I could prosecute sellers and 
suppliers in a more harsh manner, but the state law does not allow 
for a harsher penalty as it is written." Few criminal charges

Despite the DEA seizing more than 1 million packets of the drugs, as 
well as the pending forfeitures of more than $8 million, federal 
prosecutors in Houston have yet to charge anyone, according to officials.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, who is based in 
Houston, declined to comment.

In June, federal authorities in San Antonio announced Operation 
Synergy. At least 17 people were arrested in San Antonio, Houston and 
elsewhere for alleged roles in a synthetic cannabinod ring.

In another case, Houston resident Issa Baba was charged federally in 
Pennsylvania with using the Web to sell synthetic pot and other 
designer drugs. More than $5 million was seized from his bank 
accounts. Baba has signed a guilty plea.

Another Houston area man has not been charged with a crime, but more 
than $2 million was taken from him in May on the grounds that it was 
proceeds from making synthetic cannabinoids. Bundles of $100 bills 
wrapped in rubber bands were stashed at his ex-wife's home in La Marque.

Lawyer Chip Lewis, who represents Baba and the other man, said the 
cases against his clients come at a tricky time, as the Department of 
Justice has decided not to challenge laws that permit the medical and 
recreational use of marijuana.

"It is a slippery slope we are on here," Lewis said. "Yes, we will 
prosecute you for this. No, we are not going to prosecute you for 
something else on the books."

Javier Pena, chief of the DEA's Houston Division, said getting this 
breed of drugs off the streets has become a moral mission as much as 
a legal one.

"We are trying to say to store owners: You know who you are. You need 
to stop selling this poison."
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