Pubdate: Thu, 21 Aug 2014
Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright: 2014 The Union Leader Corp.
Contact:  http://www.unionleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Note: Out-of-state letters are seldom published.
Author: Mark Hayward

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SPICE TRADE

A SPRINKLING of spice.

Random thoughts about the drug spice and the crackdown in Manchester. 
Manchester doesn't have a spice problem, it has a drug problem.

Speak to people in Bronstein Park, and it becomes clear that spice is 
just one patch in the tapestry of this city's drug culture.

Christo Shaw, 28, said users prefer spice because it might mean a 
clean drug test.

"We were always getting in trouble for smoking weed," said Shaw, who 
is on probation and must submit to drug tests. A stay-at-home mom, 
Shaw said she stopped smoking spice because of last week's dozens of overdoses.

She hung out at Bronstein Park this week, where several of her 
friends offered their thoughts.

An emaciated brunette in her 30s, who would not give her name, said 
spice helps when she can't get other drugs.

"If you don't have heroin and you have spice, you can get through the 
day better," she said.

But others said they won't take spice, after an initial experience 
that bordered on terrible.

"It scared the heck out of me," said a man who gave the name of 
Larry. The 50-year-old said his heart raced, and he became panicky.

Doctors have seen patients become extremely paranoid. They remain in 
their homes. One a 20-year-old, threw furniture at his parents, 
thinking they were trying to harm him, said Dr. Travis Harker, a 
Concord family doctor and former president of the New Hampshire 
Medical Society.

He then grew depressed, suicidal and had to be admitted to the state 
hospital, Harker said. He can't say what the long-term harms of spice are.

"Cocaine is cocaine, marijuana is marijuana, spice is not one thing," 
Harker said. "You don't know what you're getting. It's extremely dangerous."

And what will happen now that spice is hard to get? Most in the 
Bronstein Park crowd said users will turn - or return - to marijuana.

When a win is a loss.

The owners of TN Gas and Convenience claimed victory when they 
reopened their market on Monday, after a judge ruled in their favor 
and ordered the city to restore their business license.

Yet Mayor Ted Gatsas seemed just as happy Tuesday afternoon, even 
though the Administration Committee restored business licenses of TN 
Gas and two others (with the caveat they no longer sell spice).

I'm sure Gatsas was thinking, 'Who cares what a judge says?'

Consider the damage caused by the city's legal barrage: Two corner 
stores were closed for six days. TN Gas was closed for only five 
days, but had to hire a lawyer to open a day earlier. The closures 
represent thousands of dollars in lost sales and legal bills. TN Gas 
said it lost $10,000 a day in sales.

The message: Spice burns through profits like cayenne on your tongue.

Gatsas has no regrets. "If it happened 100 times," he said. "I would 
do it 100 times the same way."

New Hampshire is behind the curve.

According to a 2-year-old compilation by the National Conference of 
State Legislatures, 41 states and Puerto Rico have passed laws to ban 
synthetic marijuana. It lists New Hampshire with nothing.

New Hampshire, in fact, does have a weak law against synthetic drugs, 
but efforts to strengthen it were sidetracked this year.

The sponsor of the effort, state Rep. Kris Roberts of Keene, said it 
was tough going. Liberals didn't want the law to have jail penalties, 
and libertarians didn't want a new drug law on the books, he said.

And then experts said that spice producers can easily subvert the law 
by making slight chemical changes to the drug to keep it legal.

"In the end, it was determined there was little we could do 
legislatively," said Rep. Don Lebrun, who worked on the legislation.

But Roberts said everyone's interested in the problem now, and he 
expects a study committee, which meets next Wednesday, will fashion 
some kind of law.

Kiddie drug.

You wonder if the marketing agency that created Joe Camel isn't 
behind the Smacked! brand of spice.

The spice is sold in a packet that shows the image of a cute cartoon 
face with bloodshot eyes. And the flavor of the bad stuff is 
bubblegum. What's next, chocolate ice cream-flavored Big Bird spice?

Two years ago, Central High School suffered an outbreak of five spice 
poisonings.

Michael Mientus, one of the first customers when TN Gas reopened, 
said the low cost of spice makes it an ideal drug for people with 
little money, specifically teens and the homeless.

Marijuana goes for about $10 for a gram; spice is $10 for four grams, 
which can be rolled up into about five cigarettes, said Mientus, an 
unemployed foundry worker who said he tried spice only once.

Bronstein Park visitor Larry said Manchester corner stores don't sell 
spice to children, but children can get young adults to buy spice on 
their behalf, just like they do for alcohol.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom