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DEA Invokes Emergency Controls to Outlaw K2/SPICE

Over the past year, smokable herbal blends marketed as being ³legal² and 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 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 ³Spice,² ³K2,² ³Blaze,² and ³Red X Dawn² are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

Since 2009, DEA has received an increasing number of reports from poison centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products Fifteen 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 emergency schedule an abused, harmful, non-medical substance in order to avoid an imminent public health crisis while the formal rule-making procedures described in the CSA are being conducted.

³The American public looks to the DEA to protect its children and communities from those who would exploit them for their own gain,² said DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. ³Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that Œfake pot¹ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case. Today¹s action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products²

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