Spice Still Available? The Legal Challenges Keeping It (Temporarily) Alive

January 28th, 2011   4 Comments

Remember the synthetic marijuana-like product Spice?  Other than Four Loko, Spice was probably the drug story of the year, attracting the attention of media outlets, parents, and kids alike.  In time it attracted the attention of the federal government as well, and the DEA in November said that it would take emergency measures to schedule the drug, or in other words to classify it as they do other drugs, and get it removed from the market.  According to the DEA’s release, the final rule on the psychoactive compounds JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol would be published on December 24th.

The controversial products that people call "fake pot" are still on the market.

The popular brand "K2"

This was very disappointing to Spice smokers.  You might be surprised to learn that as of now the disappointment is unwarranted – though the DEA made its announcement on November 24th, the products remain on the market.

Huh?  As it turns out, the DEA was not clear in its original release as to the timeframe of the temporary ban.  Apparently, 30 days is the minimum amount of time required to announce a change in the rules.  But it doesn’t mean that’s the amount of time it will take – the DEA can take all the time it needs and has issued another release to clarify that.  So, Spice has been pulled from a lot of shelves (or reformulated), and we are told a home drug test is in the works for it, but it’s still, technically, temporarily, legal.

DEA Spokeswoman Barbara Carreno, interviewed by the Hartford Advocate, explained the process, explaining “We still have to write new regulations and publish them and that’s taken longer than expected.”  Furthermore:

While the law stipulates that the DEA must announced its proposed ban thirty days prior to enacting it, there’s nothing that prohibits them from taking longer, Carreno says. Until the rules are actually published in the Federal Register, the nation’s official rule book, the ban will not go into effect.

She said she wouldn’t offer an estimate as to when final rules may be published, saying the agency had “learned our lesson” with regard to predictions or estimated time frames. She said vendors of K2 and Spice should continue checking the register to stay on the right side of the law.

Business owners will have to be vigilant, although it seems likely that when Spice and K2 are actually off the market, the media attention to the issue will resume, at least briefly.

Another reason why the DEA is having trouble getting Spice products off the market is a lawsuit that has been filed in Minnesota by a few business owners.  They argue that banning Spice will hurt their bottom lines, and it surely will, as one business owner said Spice accounted for a million dollars in sales last year (see The Salt Lake Tribune for more info).  The lawsuit was dismissed just days ago by Judge Patrick Schiltz but the business owners are filing a repeal.

Apparently the DEA expects to issue a final ruling on the ban next month.  A seemingly separate group, the Retail Compliance Association, has also made a legal challenge to the ban, based on its impact on small businesses and certain federal acts better explained by David Kroll here.  According to the press release by the Retail Compliance Association

One economic analyst stated that the industry may represent more than 1 billion in economic impact, if true, this will preclude the ban from ever taking effect as the emergency order is governed by Executive Order 12991 which states that emergency bans cannot be implemented in the cases where a 100 million dollar or greater economic impact will be imposed.

It would be interesting to learn more about those numbers and see how the case is argued.  The DEA says it has removed language in its Notice of Intent that cited the acts in question.

The (threatened) Spice ban raises a lot of interesting issues.  It does seem to warrant a ban – it’s basically unregulated, unknown chemicals sprayed on plant material, and it has been causing bad reactions among some people.  Marijuana legalization advocates seem to like Spice because it makes marijuana look good in comparison.  How the DEA will handle synthetic cannabinoids in general (as there are way more than the 5 the DEA specified in their Notice of Intent) will be intriguing as well.

So the Spice saga goes on…we’ll let you know when the DEA publishes its rules in February, if in fact they publish the rules at all.

Picture from “The Pitch”

Tags: , ,

Vitamin d – is more better?

November 30th, 2010   1 Comment

The Institute of Medicine’s 14 member panel has released the findings of their two year study of vitamin D and increased the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D to 600 international units per day from the previous level of 400 international units per day. This is the second increase since the 1997 levels which were 200 international units per day.

The panel was formed at the request of the governments of the United States and Canada. The panel examined thousands of publications and studies in order to determine how much vitamin D and calcium people needed for good health, how much was too much and what is the level for deficiency.

Vitamin d testing has exploded over the last few years and labs have started reporting that levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter is a deficiency. The Institute of Medicine’s new study states that a level of 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter to be the level that is needed for good bone health for practically all individuals, therefore, a deficiency would exist only below 20 ng/mL.

When labs use the below 30 nanograms level as a deficiency then an estimated 80 percent of the population is deemed vitamin d deficient. However, the Institute of Medicine is lowering that bar to 20 nanograms which would mean that we don’t actually have a vitamin d epidemic in the United States.

The medical community has released thousands of studies over the last several years supporting an increased need for vitamin d supplementation to levels between 1000 – 2000 IU and citing increased diseases in people with low levels of vitamin d. The media has highly publicized vitamin d as a panacea for the common cold to cancer. So how do we make sense of the new government study?

The government is required to issue one number which is supposed to be for everyone in the United States. Certainly, the government would not recommend one level for the people of Vermont and another for the people of Florida, but that is how vitamin d works based on your distance from the equator. And certainly there would be an uproar if our government made one recommendation for whites and one recommendation for blacks, but again that is how vitamin d works based on the color of your skin and its ability to absorb the sun’s rays and convert them to vitamin d.

“the committee emphasizes that, with a few exceptions, all North Americans are receiving enough calcium and vitamin D. Higher levels have not been shown to confer greater benefits, and in fact, they have been linked to other health problems, challenging the concept that “more is better.””

So the Institute of Medicine has to walk this very narrow line of making a recommendation that will work for every man, woman and child in this country – as their tagline on their website says “Advising the Nation”. So while medical evidence exists that where you live or the color of your skin will effect your vitamin d level, the committee had to ignore these facts in their recommendations and find a cautious level to establish for all.

Even with the recommended lower level of 20 ng/mL many people are still vitamin d deficient. If you want to heed the cautionary levels recommended by the IOM then test your vitamin d level and if it is below 20 ng/mL then take the recommended supplement of 600 IU per day. Test your vitamin d again in three months and see if there has been improvement. Many in the medical community will tell you that you cannot raise your vitamin d level on 600 IUs per day.

The one thousand page report issued by the IOM will be read in full by few and rehashed by many. Personally, I will not read the entire 1,000 report since I had trouble getting all the way through Dr. Holick’s 336 page book on vitamin d. However, I do know that I can have my vitamin d level tested and know that I need to be at minimum in the 20 – 30 ng/mL range. My recent vitamin d level came in at 14.6 ng/mL and I live in the sunny south and am white. Just to get to the cautiously safe level of 30 ng/mL means doubling my vitamin d level which will take additional supplementation and additional sun exposure. The good news is that I can test again and find out if I am making progress.

While the IOM report sounds like a cautionary warning, the truth is we still have the tools available to find out what works for each of us individually and this is not something the government will ever be able to do – determine what is best for you.

What Is Spice? The Ultimate Guide

October 27th, 2010   27 Comments

(We recently featured an article entitled “Spice: What Is It, And Can It Be Tested?” on our blog. One of our readers pointed out something we kind of overlooked – what is spice?? So we endeavored to answer that question below by providing what we hope will become the ultimate guide to Spice.)

What is Spice?

What is spice? Everybody is trying to figure this out as awareness of this new substance spreads into pop culture, high schools, and even gas stations near you.

Spice is slang for synthetic cannabis. It was once an actual brand but has become shorthand for a wide variety of similar products. It’s a mixture of herbs that have had synthetic cannabinoids sprayed on them. One of these cannabinoids is called JWH-018 and was invented in a lab to help with pain. The point of experimenting with cannabinoids was to eliminate the effects of cannabinoids that create a “high” while maintaining the pain relief effects. With JWH-018, this did not happen – actually JWH-018 is very potent, more potent than many forms of marijuana.

One of the reasons Spice has taken off in popularity is that JWH-018 can be made easily by combining a few commercial products. Its first non-lab use was in Asia, where it became an aid for plant growth. Much of the Spice you see in the United States still comes from manufacturers in Asia. Its purpose in the United States is quite different though – it is smoked by folks for a high that is still legal federally and in most states.

Spice is marketed in the U.S. as “incense.” This is to prevent it from having to adhere to regulations were it labeled a medicine or “smokable product.” It usually comes in a little pouch. The ingredients listed on the pouches do not always reflect what’s actually in the pouch.

Typically Spice is smoked as marijuana would be. It has many, many names and brands, among them: Algerian Blend, Genie, k2, Smoke, Chill X, Sense, Yucatan Fire, Spice Diamond, Spice Silver, Spice Gold.

Where can it be purchased?

Spice is purchased at head shops, gas stations, etc., as it is legal in most states.  There’s also a thriving online industry for Spice and other synthetic cannabis products.

What does it do?

Spice that contains JWH-018 acts in the brain the same way that marijuana does. It binds to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain. It blocks the action of these two cannabinoid receptors. They are most common in the parts of the brain that have the most to do with memory, like the hippocampus.

How does it work?

Spice that contains JWH-018 acts in the brain the same way that marijuana does. It binds to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain. It blocks the action of these two cannabinoid receptors. They are most common in the parts of the brain that have the most to do with memory, like the hippocampus.

Is it legal?

Is it largely legal in the United States, but it is illegal in many European countries.

Where is it illegal?

(All of this information is as of October 27, 2010; there may be other cities, localities, countries and states that have banned synthetic cannabis which have escaped our attention)

Countries where it is illegal: Austria, Germany, France, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Chile, South Korea, Japan.

States in the US where it is illegal: Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, Michigan.

States in the US where it is about to be illegal: Illinois.

States where the legal status of synthetic cannabis is under discussion: New York, New Jersey, Florida, Indiana, Ohio.

What are the risks?

In most states, Spice is still legal, so you won’t get in trouble for possessing it. The major risk is that there have been no major tests done about synthetic cannabinoids’ effect on the human body. Even the inventor of JWH-018, John W. Huffman, PhD, says that because they’ve never been tested using them recreationally is like “Russian Roulette.” Although he certainly does not endorse marijuana use he goes so far as to recommend, somewhat hypothetically, smoking marijuana as preferable to smoking synthetic cannabis, since at least it has been studied. WebMD points out that they share a chemical structure with some carcinogens, and a published study shows that when JWH-018 enters the body it is metabolized into carcinogens (see Vice magazine).

Spice is not regulated either – as mentioned above, what’s on the label may not be what’s in the bag (and the reason Spice did not attract attention for so long is that in fact the synthetic cannabinoids producing the psychoactive affects were NOT on the label). Some doctors believe that Spice related cases they have seen may stem from additional contaminants in the product(s). These contaminants have led to effects that are reminiscent not of a marijuana-like drug, but a stimulant.

Indeed, the side effects are not always simply a high feeling. Vomiting, increased heart rate, hallucinations, and increased anxiety can occur. Some people have even been hospitalized. And other typical drug drawbacks can occur too – withdrawal, cravings, a hangover, and even addiction has been documented.

What are the signs that someone is using synthetic cannabis?

Unlike marijuana, synthetic cannabis does not have a signature smell. The high is relatively short (30 minutes or so) and generally shorter than a high from marijuana. So it is less likely you will catch someone “acting high” when they are using the drug. However, this may vary depending on the potency of the product consumed. The red-eyed look of someone high on marijuana can also be seen in someone high on Spice, as can the general slowness and subdued behavior. In terms “not currently high” symptoms and signs of continued use and/or dependency, symptoms will be similar to marijuana use – less interest in schoolwork or extracurricular activities, detachment, lethargy.

The most common method of using spice is smoking it in joint form. If you are a parent, it is worth noting if rolling papers and rollers suddenly appear. Other marijuana paraphernalia (such as glassware, bongs, etc.) should be looked out for as well. You might also look for eyedrops which are used to mask the bloodshot effect that both Spice and marijuana can have on the eyes.

Dr. Scalzo, who is studying cases in which use of Spice has led to emergency room visits, tells parents to be on the lookout for agitation, pale appearance, and confusion and anxiety in teens that may be the result of hallucinations. Other signs of Spice’s adverse effects include paleness and increased heartbeat and blood pressure. (For the full article on Dr. Scalzo please visit Science Daily).

What can parents do?

Many state and local communities are discussing the issue of synthetic cannabis. Some cities have endeavored to create ordinances banning its use. If you are interested in stopping the sale of synthetic cannabis, the best thing to do is probably to contact your local and state representatives and bring the issue to their attention.

Can I drug test my child?

The answer is sort of yes and no. Unfortunately at the moment no home drug test is available to test for the synthetic compounds in Spice and related products. However, labs have developed on-site technology to test for a few (if not all) of the synthetic cannabinoids in Spice. Redwood Toxicology is the first lab to do so. Here is what you need to know about their detection of synthetic cannabis in urine:

  • The metabolites detected are JWH-018 and JWH-073. Other metabolites that may be active in synthetic cannabis will not be detected by this test (for example, HU-210, a synthetic cannabinoid discovered in Spice Gold).
  • JWH-018 and JWH-073 were chosen for detection because they are at this time the most common: between the two, they are the active ingredients in 27 different Spice type mixtures.
  • JWH-018 and JWH-073 can be detected in urine (depending on how much was used) for up to 72 hours after last use.

One important thing to remember is that if you suspect your child is using Spice, testing them with a marijuana drug test is useless. Chemically, synthetic cannabis is not similar to marijuana, and it will not show up as positive for marijuana on a drug test.

List of Links:

There are a lot of great sources on Spice and Spice-like products out there. Here is a selection of resources for those interested in learning more about Spice:

Joseph Brownstein for ABC News: “K2 Giving People Another Dangerous Way to Get High”

Mary Carmichael for Newsweek: “Fake-Pot Panic”

David Kroll: “Is DEA about to act of K2 Spice synthetic marijuana products?”

David Kroll: “What’s the buzz?: Synthetic marijuana, K2, Spice, JWH-018”

Andrew Moseman for Discover Magazine: “Legal, Synthetic Marijuana Pleases Pot-Heads, Upsets State Governments”

Peter Rugg for The Pitch: “Product Review: Will K2 Synthetic Marijuana Get You High?”

Erowid.org: Spice Product Resources

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction: “Synthetic Cannabinoids and ‘Spice’”

Have a source you’d like to add to the list, or a question you’d like us to answer?  Please send an email to the author, Robyn, at robyn at homehealthtesting.com and she’ll do the best to answer your question.  Thanks for reading what we hope will become the Ultimate Guide to Spice!

Photo by Schorle

Tags: , , , , , ,

Free Vitamin D Clinic

October 18th, 2010   1 Comment

free vitamin dThe best source for vitamin D is sunshine.  The vitamin D you get from sunlight stays in our body longer than vitamin D from food or supplements.  Supplements can help you maintain healthy vitamin D levels year round, but getting some sunshine is a key component to obtaining healthy vitamin D levels.

Taking a walk or sitting outside for your lunch break will help you raise your vitamin D levels since your body can manufacture the most vitamin D between noon and 2:00pm based on the sun’s angle.  Exposing your arms and legs to the sun will expose enough skin to get a healthy dose of vitamin D in about 15 minutes, two to three times a week.  There are many factors that will influence how long you need to be in the sun, such as, your skin type and your geographic location.  You can use an online Vitamin D Sunlight Calculator which will  analyze your location, skin type, age, height and weight and recommend your sun exposure time.

We have been told for years to stay of of the sun or cover up with clothing or sunscreen when we are in the sun.  Our fears of skin cancer have overtaken our basic need for sunshine.  Sunlight is not unhealthy and like most things in life is beneficial if used in moderation.  Actually sunlight is necessary for optimal health – so step outside and visit the free vitamin D clinic.

Tags:

What is the optimal vitamin D level?

October 13th, 2010   1 Comment

While medical studies continue to tout the health benefits of vitamin D, experts do not agree on the vitamin D level we should maintain for optimal health.  Dr. John Cannell, the Vitamin D Council Director explains why this is a difficult number to recommend for all people:

How much vitamin D you need varies with age, body weight, percent of body fat, latitude, skin coloration, season of the year, use of sunblock, individual variation in sun exposure, and—probably—how ill you are. As a general rule, old people need more than young people, big people need more that little people, heavier people need more than skinny people, northern people need more than southern people, dark-skinned people need more than fair-skinned people, winter people need more than summer people, sunblock lovers need more than sunblock haters, sun-phobes need more than sun worshipers, and ill people may need more than well people.

All the experts agree that your goal should be to get an average vitamin D level year round.  Typically our vitamin D levels are at their highest at the end of the summer and lowest at the end of the winter.  After reading several books that have recently been published on vitamin D, here is a roundup of the recommended vitamin D levels for optimal health.

The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem by  Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., recommends a range of 40 – 60 ng/ml as a healthy vitamin D level.

The Sunlight Solution: Why More Sun Exposure and Vitamin D Are Essential to Your Health by Laurie Winn Carlson recommends an ideal vitamin D level of 45 – 50 ng/ml.

The Vitamin D Cure by James Dowd, M.D. and Diane Stafford recommends an ideal vitamin D level between 50 – 70 ng/ml.

Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin by Zoltan Rona, MD, MSc states that optimal levels should be between 100 – 250 ng/ml.

The Vitamin D Council recommends a range between 50 – 80 ng/ml.

To find out your vitamin D level which is measured in your blood with a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test, also called a 25(OH)D, you can take a home vitamin D test and get the results by mail which will provide the amount of circulating vitamin D in your blood in the ng/ml measurement or nanograms per milliliter.

While the experts may disagree on the optimal vitamin D level, they do agree that we need to check our vitamin D and make sure that we are at least above the insufficient level of 29 ng/ml.

Tags:

US Health Care Kills us Sooner

October 12th, 2010   Add Comment

A new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, What Changes in Survival Rates Tell Us About US Health Care,  has shocking findings about the life expectancy in the US.  The study found 15-year survival rates for men and women ages 45 and 65 have fallen in the US compared with 12 other countries over the past 30 years.  From 1975 – 2005, the US was making steady gains in the 15 year survival rate, but other countries have made even greater gains which has caused us to slip in the ratings.  The most disturbing finding is the per capita health care spending in the US increased at more than twice the rate of the comparison countries.

“It was shocking to see the U.S. falling behind other countries even as costs soared ahead of them, but what really surprised us was that all of the usual suspects—smoking, obesity, traffic accidents, homicides, and racial and ethnic diversity are not the culprits. The U.S. doesn’t stand out as doing any worse in these areas than any of the other countries we studied, leading us to believe that failings in the U.S. health care system, such as costly specialized and fragmented care, are likely playing a large role in this relatively poor performance on improvements in life expectancy.”  Peter Muennig, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School of Public Health.

The study analyzed  health spending, behavioral risk factors,  and 15-year survival rates for men and women ages 45 and 65 in the U.S. and 12 other nations — Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

White women in the US, age 45, had the worst performance in the study—by 2005 their 15-year survival rates were lower than that of all the other countries.  In 2005 the 15 year survival rate for a white woman in the US was lower than the rate from 1975 for Swiss, Swedish, Dutch or Japanese women.  How can 35 years of medical advances, technology and increased health spending produce these results?

The study took into account risk factors and behavior such as smoking.  Actually smoking had declined in the US at a faster rate than other countries, while our survival rate sank.  The obesity rates versus other countries have been consistent since 1975 since the US was ahead in this category throughout the years.

In 1950, the United States was fifth among the leading industrialized nations with respect to female life expectancy at birth, surpassed only by Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Netherlands. The last available measure in 2008 of female life expectancy had the United States ranked at forty-sixth in the world.

Studies come out on a daily basis and sometimes the statistics can be overwhelming and possibly interpreted in different ways.  But to just look at that one statistic again (from CIA World Factbooks):

  • In 1950 the US was 5th in the world for female life expectancy
  • In 2008 the US is 46th for female life expectancy at 81.13 years

In forty-five other countries in the world, women live longer than here in the US with Macau in the #1 spot with female life expectancy of 87.45 years.  France is in the #7 spot with 84.23 years.  Canada is #10 with 83.81 years.  The US barely ranked above Ecuador, Poland and Cuba.

Quantity of care obviously does not produce quality of care.  While the US can outspend other countries on health care, we steadily decline in the length of our lives.  Is our rising health care costs actually causing us to die sooner?  Our health care system has become fragmented and reliant on high priced specialty care for every illness.  Instead of going to one doctor for your health and well being, you may have to go to several different specialists for each illness or symptom.  The study concluded that this fragmented care is raising our costs and decreasing our quality of care.

“We speculate that the nature of our health care system—specifically, its reliance on unregulated fee-for-service and specialty care—may explain both the increased spending and the relative deterioration in survival that we observed.”  from the What Changes in Survival Rate Tell Us about US Health Care study