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Synthetic Marijuana Now Banned in Nebraska

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #673)
Drug War Issues

Nebraska banned synthetic marijuana February 24, as an emergency measure passed by the legislature and signed a day earlier by Gov. Dave Heineman (R) went into effect.

No legal Spice for you, Cornhuskers! (Image via Wikimedia)
The bill, LB 19, adds a group of synthetic cannabinoid compounds to Schedule I of the state's Controlled Substances Act, and will punish their possession, production, and distribution like marijuana.

"It slams the door on manufacturers," said bill sponsor Sen. Beau McCoy (R), dealing a blow to the state's so far invisible synthetic pot manufacturing industry.

Synthetic cannabinoids mimic the effects of marijuana. The chemicals are typically sprayed on herbs and then packaged and marketed under names like Spice and K2. Such products began appearing in recent years and gained popularity as a legal alternative to pot, but their appearance also excited reflex prohibitionist instincts among police and politicians across the land.

Nebraska joins more than a dozen states that have moved against fake pot. The DEA had moved to ban the substances nationwide as of last Christmas Eve, but that effort had been blocked by organized retailers' groups until the DEA announced that the federal ban had gone into place Tuesday.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Callum Yeater (not verified)

Now there is another banned drug in the hands of the drug dealers now....smart move nebraska...NOT

Fri, 02/25/2011 - 1:54am Permalink
eric (not verified)

Why are you wasting your time reporting on this fake crap. It is not a drug, "drug dealers" will never sell it. Seriously. What's next, reporting on the ban of candy cigarettes?

Fri, 02/25/2011 - 2:47pm Permalink
eric (not verified)

Why are you wasting your time on this non-issue? It is not a drug, "drug dealers" will never sell it. What are you going to report on next, the ban on candy cigarettes? Thanks for all you do, but this is a joke. The thousands of people in jail for drug offenses surely could care less about some greed-propelled fancy tea being banned. It is a misleading and truly stupid product anyway. Peace. 

Fri, 02/25/2011 - 2:51pm Permalink
Anon9 (not verified)

In reply to by eric (not verified)

Why would the drug cartels never sell K2 (JWH-018)?

- according to the chemist who claimed to make k2, it's really easy to make and it was actually one of his undergrad chem students that first synthesized the substance (another news article stated that common household items can be used to make it but I forget which one).

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/January/15010901.asp

- since it's a potent powder in small dosages, it can be manufactured and smuggled more easily the marijuana

The advantages to users:

- obviously it works well enough for many people, considering how much money sellers are making.

- most employers don't test for K2, and the lab detection time window is 3 days compared to up to two weeks for the "real thing" (depending on how much and often you use).

Hopefully we will legalize marijuana in enough states before the cartels get into this market.

 

 

Sat, 02/26/2011 - 4:17am Permalink
Anonymous_User (not verified)

This trash is the result of the drug war, this along with so many other dangerous analogs like 4-mmc are popular because our govts have banned all the substances that are worth taking and carry relatively little risk. 

Sat, 02/26/2011 - 10:16pm Permalink
joebanana (not verified)

And a terrorist cartel. Where are the studies on this stuff? What gives them the power to  ban siht on a whim? The Obutthead administration is a disgrace, our whole government is a sick joke, F-ck America.

Thu, 03/03/2011 - 3:10pm Permalink

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