In the wake of a shock incident which saw three Northumberland teenagers hospitalised after experimenting with a herbal substance at home, warnings have been issued about the risks of taking any drug, legal or not.

The 15-year-old victims are today recovering at home after they were taken to hospital when they began vomiting blood on Saturday night.

Police believe they had been using a so-called ‘legal high’ known as Clockwork Orange Herbal Incense, which can be brought on the internet for as little as £7.99 a gram.

And now one of the region’s top pharmacology experts has warned that experimenting with any unknown substance could have grave consequences.

Simon Thomas, professor of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics at Newcastle University, told The Journal that experimenting with ‘legal highs’ could be more reckless than using illegal drugs, because no one really knows what is in them.

“The problem with these products is that they often don’t tell you what the chemical composition of the products actually is,” he said.

Clockwork Orange Herbal Incense can be purchased on UK-based websites.

The new ‘herbal blend’ was released for sale after similar substances such as Black Mamba and Mexxy were banned and classified as Class B drugs in February.

And Prof Thomas says that the fact it has not been banned yet does not mean it is safer than other drugs, but it is a sign that legislation is struggling to keep up with the development of new substances.

“There is a legal process that has to be completed to ban a drug,” he said.

“To ban a drug you have to identify what the drug is chemically. So if you make small alterations to the chemical structure the substance is still legal. And these products are changing and evolving all the time.”

Northumberland trading standards officers are now investigating where the teenagers purchased the substance to determine whether any action needs to be taken.

Sue Milner, director of public health and protection for Northumberland County Council, said: “This incident shows the dangers of using such substances. These drugs, whether obtained legally or not, often contain potentially dangerous chemicals that can have lasting, harmful impacts on people’s health.

“We will continue to work with the police and take any action necessary to ensure the safety of the public.”

Less than four months later the woman, Sue, is back in hospital after a three week smoking binge and a second relapse, and the man, John, has left the state and is using again.

‘‘You’d do anything to get that smoke. You live for the stuff. I put myself in hospital last week because if I didn’t get help I wouldn’t have had a family left, and I’d probably be dead,’’ John said in January.

In a brief phone call this week he said he was ‘‘very busy’’. His mother, in Newcastle, spoke about getting through each day while waiting for the phone call to say her son was dead.

‘‘We honestly live with the fact that he could be found dead at any time,’’ she said.

John was diagnosed bipolar after years of using cannabis. He started buying a product sold as ‘‘herbal incense for aromatherapy purposes’’ from a Hunter shopping centre key-cutting outlet as a way of weaning himself off traditional illegal cannabis.

‘‘He was so excited because he thought it was herbal, and because he could buy it from a shop it must be okay,’’ John’s mother said.

He has had many relapses which include aggressive and disturbing behaviour, followed by lengthy hospital stays.

In a phone call from a Lingard Private Hospital unit this week, Sue said two other synthetic cannabis users who were in hospital with her in January, were also receiving treatment again after relapses.

‘‘I’ve been finding it really hard to get off it. It’s pretty shocking stuff. I was using up to three grams a day, which is $50 a day, which isn’t so bad, but there’s some seriously dangerous stuff out there. I only use a fairly mild brand, but there’s some that people are buying because it’ll knock your head off.’’

“We’re going to pledge not to sell any of the synthetic smokes at all. We’re completely dropping it,” Chris Ruhlin, owner ofHerbal Tea and Tobacco at 44 Main St., said Wednesday afternoon.

Arno asked Ruhlin on Tuesday if he’d be willing to pull the controversial synthetic drug from his shelves. Ruhlin agreed, and announced his decision during a Tuesday night meeting of the Bangor Business and Economic Development Committee.

The interim chief reached out to two other shops in the city that sell the synthetic drugs Wednesday morning, asking that they follow suit.

Richard Hatch, who oversees compliance at Cash X-Press at 575 Main St., said Wednesday afternoon that he agreed to stop selling spice after his inventory runs out. Cash X-Press operates a pawn shop which also sells pipes and tobacco products and is licensed to perform money transactions.

“Whatever I have left is not very much and it’s going to be gone very, very soon,” Hatch said.

Bill Bart, owner of Headies Glass Gallery at 514 Broadway, said Wednesday that he was preparing to open a new store at 64 Main St. and hasn’t had time to respond to Arno’s message, and that he would have to speak with the interim chief before making a decision.

The new store, which will be just a few doors down from Herbal Tea and Tobacco, will only sell clothing and smoking glassware, according to Bart. Whether the current location will continue to sell spice is yet to be determined.

Spice and other synthetic marijuana products are marketed as “herbal incense” and labeled “not for human consumption” to mask their intended purpose and avoid U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight. However, the products are usually smoked to achieve a legal high and are widely available at smoke shops and other businesses and on the street.

“A huge portion of the people who buy it and burn it find it to be relaxing and the effects similar, perhaps, to those [of marijuana],” Ruhlin said. “The reality is that it’s not similar at all.”

When smoked or used inconsistent with labeling, side effects include agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, tremors and seizures, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

William Easton, a 19-year-old customer of Herbal Tea and Tobacco, said two of his friends suffered seizures after smoking spice. He walked into the store Wednesday to thank the shop for agreeing to weed out the product.

“The kids here, they’re destroying themselves with it,” Easton said.

Packages of spice start at $10 for a gram and a half, and range up to $50 for 10 grams, according to Ruhlin.

Hatch said he wasn’t surprised by the interim chief’s request to pull the spice.

“This stuff is dangerous. It should not be on the shelf,” he said.

The popularity is growing, according to the office. A 2011 study found that more than 11 percent of high school seniors had used a synthetic marijuana, such as spice or K2, in the past year.

In Portland, spice is available at as many as a dozen smoke shops and gas stations, according to Tucker Kollman, a manager at the Blazin’ Ace Smoke Shop on Fore Street.

“To be competitive with the other shops in Portland, we have to remain in the [spice] market,” Kollman said, adding that his shop has never been asked to discontinue sales of the substance. He said the Blazin’ Ace plans to continue to sell it for as long as it’s legal.

He wasn’t sure how much spice was sold at the shop, which was voted Best Head Shop in a Portland Phoenix contest, but that the synthetic marijuana was “pretty popular.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration first noticed synthetic cannabinoids in the United States in 2008 after border control agents found it crossing into the U.S. from overseas markets.

“Because cannabis is not available to people, it has created this market for this alternative option that people have found,” Ruhlin said. Both he and Hatch said they support the legalization of marijuana in Maine, arguing that it would drastically reduce demand for more dangerous chemical substances.

The DEA and at least 38 states have taken steps to regulate or ban spice and other synthetic cannabinoids, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

In March 2011, the DEA temporarily classified five synthetic cannabinoids as Schedule I substances. On April 12, the DEA announced methylone, a synthetic stimulant found in bath salts, would be permanently classified as a Schedule I drug. On the same day, the agencyannounced that three synthetic cannabinoids — UR-144, XLR11, and AKB48 — which are found in spice and products marketed as “herbal incense,” also would face temporary bans, stating they “pose an imminent hazard to public safety.”

In Maine, Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor has introduced legislation to ban the sale and possession of synthetic cannabinoids.

Ruhlin said he was “deeply skeptical about [officials’] ability to enforce” such a ban because synthetic marijuana, which is a $6.2 billion market, would simply move underground.

Hatch said he’s concerned that a ban on the substances would bring far more dangerous drugs to the United States. He cited Krokodil, a drug that mimics the effects of heroin that has gained popularity in Russia.

The highly addictive drug carries an extremely high risk of death and eats away at flesh when injected, leaving behind gruesome wounds, according to Time magazine.

Krokodil “blows bath salts out of the water,” Hatch said. “Bath salts is baby powder next to this.”

Issues with spice have surfaced in recent years in Bangor, with residents, business owners and city officials complaining about the behavior of individuals in the Pickering Square area. Empty spice packages were frequently found on the ground in Pickering Square and a small park behind Herbal Tea and Tobacco and Nocturnem Draft Haus. In an attempt to reduce the littering, Ruhlin started a “recycling” program in which the shop returned 5 cents to patrons who brought their empty spice bags into the shop for disposal, Ruhlin said.

During Tuesday night’s committee meeting, Councilor James Gallant asked Ruhlin how much the loss of spice revenue would hurt his business.

“What you are selling is legal,” Gallant said. “I have to be the guy who asks if you’re going to be OK.”

“I’m going to do it,” Ruhlin responded. “We existed for many years without it, and I didn’t buy a Ferrari last year.”

Ruhlin declined to say how much spice sales contributed to his business, but did say his decision would result in a “significant” loss of revenue. He said that he believes a person has a right to do what they wish with their body, and that he made his decision not because of morals, but rather to cooperate with the desires of his city.

“My relationship with the community that has supported me for 16 years is more important to me than the money I make selling this product,” Ruhlin said Wednesday.

The first of two notices published in the Federal Register this morning is a Final Rule permanently placing methylone, a synthetic stimulant drug that has been encountered in falsely marketed “bath salt” products, into Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive category that is reserved for unsafe, highly abused substances with no accepted medical use. Methylone is abused by individuals for its psychoactive effects, and this abuse has had an adverse effect on public health and safety, including death. DEA temporarily scheduled methylone on October 21, 2011 upon finding it posed an imminent hazard to public safety. In addition the United States Department of Health and Human Services concluded that it should be controlled. On October 17, 2012, DEA proposed to make its Schedule I status permanent, taking steps that conclude with today’s Final Rule.

Over the past two years, synthetic stimulants sold under the guise of “bath salts” or “plant food” has become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults, and is sold at a variety of retail outlets and over the Internet. However, they have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption or for medical use. Marketed under names such as “Ivory Wave”, “Purple Wave”, “Vanilla Sky” or “Bliss,” these products are comprised of substances perceived as mimics of cocaine, LSD, MDMA, and/or methamphetamine. Users have reported impaired perception, reduced motor control, disorientation, extreme paranoia, and violent episodes. The long-term physical and psychological effects of these substances and their associated products are unknown but potentially severe.

The second Federal Register Notice published today is a Notice of Intent to temporarily control three synthetic cannabinoids (UR-144, XLR11, and AKB48) often seen in falsely marketed “herbal incense” products. DEA has taken action upon finding these three substances pose an imminent hazard to public safety. This action will become effective upon publishing a Final Order to temporarily control these substances as Schedule I substances for up to two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension.

Over the past three years, smoke-able herbal blends are marketed under the guise of being “legal” and have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. These products consist of plant material that has been laced with a substance that mimics THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops and over the Internet. These substances have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption or for medical use. The long-term physical and psychological effects of these substances and their associated products are unknown but potentially severe.

Razo pleaded not guilty to felony charges of conspiracy.

Razo was arrested March 1st while in possession of the boxes containing packages of herbal incense with an approximate value of $1,700.

According to court documents, MT Department of Corrections investigators recorded phone conversations and tracked letters by inmates asking to buy the so called “intoxicants.”

The documents state that 600 packages or nearly 900 grams were crammed into the boxes for delivery.

Phone conversations by inmate Jared Rosling and his brother Jon referred to the plan in coded messages.

The investigation revealed the plans were ongoing from the middle of January until the first of March when Razo received the boxes in a grocery bag at a casino parking lot.

Razo later old investigators they were for his personal use.

While the herbal products aren’t considered a drug, they are prohibited by Montana State Prison.

It was stated that inmates like to use the herbal incense because there is no urinalysis that will determine when an inmate has used it.

Jon Rosling was promised amnesty for cooperating with authorities.

Razo faces the felony charges for conspiracy to transfer illegal articles into Montana State Prison.

His trial date was set for July 29th in front of Helena District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock.

Razo is currently out on bond.

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This come all too late for one 14 year old girl that was taken to the Bay Medical Center emergency room over the weekend for smoking K2 with her 18 year old brother and his friends. No 14 year old girl should be exposed to smoking of any kind and especially to a drug that has the same effects as illegal marijuana. K2 or spice as some call it is known as synthetic marijuana, but with much more harmful possibilities. The 14 year old girl in the news today wasn’t able to stand or talk on her own when Bay county police arrived at her aid, thanks to the 911 call of her brother. In his words, she began to “freak out”. What do you expect from a child that is being subjected to such a dangerous chemical?

But last year Illinois lawmakers enacted a ban, which took effect Saturday January 1st 2011, outlawing possession, sales and distribution. So now anyone caught with this stuff will be treated like a criminal as they will be breaking the law. This comes on the heels of the US government actually talking about making it illegal as marijuana all across the nation. Over half of the US cities have already placed bans on K2 spice with more stepping up to the plate every day. But it is just recently that whole states started getting involved and now some statewide bans have been put into law, Illinois is just the newest member. But if you think that banning this substance will make it virtually impossible to get, you are very wrong.

In fact authorities are predicting that by this time next year they will be dealing with a new alternative to K2 that will be legal. All makers have to do is tweak it just a little and bypass what the laws effect and they will have an all new substance that does the same thing, but which is legal. Just last year it was the alternative to ecstasy that was outlawed known as BZP. In fact there are already websites that are advertising “New K2” that they say isn’t covered by any present bans, for the authorities this is a never ending battle where the synthetics are always a step ahead. Violators of the ban can face felony drug charges punishable by probation or up to three years in prison.

Reports from physicians at the Navy Medical Center in San Diego, California support anecdotal evidence that spice has become popular among military personnel who choose to abuse mind altering substances and side-step the consequences of urinalysis.

Equally disconcerting, spice is popular with personnel in positions of public safety who are subject drug testing.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) tells us spice is synthetically formulated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, at 10 times the strength of natural THC. This high dose of THC results in an effect that can induce a state of psychosis.

NIH reports this psychoactive designer drug can be altered so quickly that laws to ban spice are by-passed by rearranging the molecular construct and re-introducing the newly-changed drug almost overnight. By the time the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) can confirm that a particular version of spice endangers users and society at large, producers alter the compound to skirt the DEA’s efforts.

Spice was created by an organic chemist at Clemson University, John W. Huffman, for potential medicinal use. Apparently, the drug escaped the lab in the same manner as killer bees.

Subsequently, sinister chemists applied the drug to a mix of herbs via aerosol spray and marketed the product as incense, clearly marking on each package the warning: “Not for human consumption.”

Curiously, spice cannot be purchased by those under the age of 18 which begs the question-why is there an age restriction to purchase incense?

Recently, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced multiple cases of renal failure as a result of spice use, and NIH reports nausea, confusion, disorientation, eating disorders, emotional issues and aforementioned psychosis as direct effect. The CDC reports one death resulting from spice abuse. In all likelihood, there are more to come.

A recent conversation with Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA), revealed a shared frustration among nation’s lawmakers of spice manufacturers circumventing legislation. When law is passed to make spice illegal in its formula du jour, the formula is altered and it’s back in business. Conversations will law enforcement officials align with opinions of frustrated lawmakers.

NIH, among other scientific institutions, universities and research facilities claim the potential pharmacological numeric variations of molecular alteration of synthetic THC combined with a Rubiks Cube of multiple THC receptors in the brain is creating a cat and mouse game between legislators and spice manufacturers that could continue in perpetuity.

Meanwhile, this drug can, without question, be ruinous of the lives of thousands, perhaps millions of people and invariably, there can be serious consequences from those who choose to abuse in positions of public trust. Crime has already affected shopping centers where spice is sold via robbery, thus supporting opinion that spice abuse as a new twist to an ugly old, highly predictable story.

The pathway to addiction with spice is similar to any number of mind altering substances. Spice has a much shorter mental shelf life than marijuana, requiring users to repeat ingestion to maintain the effect in a fashion similar to crack cocaine. Users devote income normally designated for essential expenditures, such as rent, car payments, food and clothing to buying the drug to continue their “high.”

Channeling funds to support drug use causes a myriad of problems. It can weaken the family unit, when users are unable to provide basic necessities because they diverted funds for drug use. It can also substantially increase payouts by state and federal medical, housing and support organizations which bail out users. Addicts are often unemployed, increasing the burden on taxpayers as abusers turn to public assistance programs for help.

Funneling money to drugs to maintain a high disrupts domestic tranquility, creates evictions, car repossessions, asset pawning and empty wallets. Compounding this issue is the fact that spice is available at many tobacco shops just around the corner.

This author is on the front lines of spice abuse, responding to friends whose spouse and/or children are in trouble as a result of abuse and assisting spouses of military personnel on a personal issue resolution website. The increase in the number of those impacted is alarming.

The fact that spice is not illegal further complicates the problem.

Legislators are not expected to overwhelm their schedules chasing molecules. There are too many issues on legislative tables to be sidetracked by the cat and mouse game of altering the molecules in spice that manufacturers seem to enjoy.

In fact, as manufacturers learn that an investigatory process has begun on a given recipe, by the time the investigation is complete and goes to legislation, the recipe has changed forcing new law into antiquity as soon as the gavel strikes.

Legislators should come to an understanding that passing broadly written law they fear can be challenged is the best they will do. The manufacturers of spice products are small, unorganized in terms of mutual cooperation and cannot spend the small fortune it would take to challenge a legal broad stroke.

Many states already have existing law that could immediately ban spice if lawmakers were to assuage their fear of broad language and use these weapons to combat the newest wave of substance abuse before it grows to national tragedy comparable to heroin, cocaine, illegally obtained narcotics and methamphetamine.

Some say the marijuana advocate group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) would gather to challenge laws too broad in scope for fear of affecting their efforts.

The differences in the drugs make this unlikely. The strength and concentration of synthetic THC is far greater than natural THC. Local representatives of NORML did not return calls or e-mails and some e-mail addresses were invalid but logic dictates defending a scourge of a drug like spice would only dilute and weaken NORML’s message and deplete resources.

Defending spice could cause NORML to be a socio/political pariah. Supporting spice, even in principle, could create a perception of questionable motive for NORML and affect any measure of respectability and influence NORML has struggled to achieve regardless of public opinion of existing marijuana law.

Currently, spice can be detected via metabolites in urinalysis but is not mandatory in standard drug screening.  Moreover, if an employee lost his job as a result of testing positive for spice, the termination may be successfully challenged because spice is not illicit in most states and there is scant evidence regarding blood levels regarding enduring influence.

Fortunately, spice addiction is not as difficult or complex to treat as heroin, narcotics or methamphetamine. From a standpoint of psychology, a method known as habituation, a means of altering habit, can serve to alleviate psychological dependence. Available data on physical dependence is minimal and to date, research has not revealed clues- providing research exists to the extent any determinations or conclusions can be drawn.

It would seem obvious that spice is a serious threat to humanity when the creator claims anyone who uses it is an “Idiot”. The idiot list is growing fast and furious.