About a year ago legislators became aware that there were some “fake” or imitation drugs being sold quite legally at convenience stores. These acted like marijuana and were called K3 or “Sin”, among other names. It seems like as quickly as we were able to get them outlawed, another item popped up causing just as much difficulty. It has been talked about all through the United States, but only recently has an article appeared in our news here in Anchorage.
The newest products are being sold as “bath salts” or “plant food” but they are actually a combination of drugs that can get someone just as high, and just as addicted as meth or cocaine.
Unfortunately, they can also get people “just as dead.” They can also cause delusions, seizures, heart palpitations and other health emergencies.
Some of the names of the new drugs are Pure Ivory, White Rush and Synergy. These chemical stimulants mimic the effects of cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine.
Assistant Anchorage prosecutor Jennifer Messick explained the issue to the Anchorage Assembly last week, and they responded by making it illegal to sell, use or possess the chemical compounds that are found in this group of drugs. That takes care of Anchorage, and State Senator Kevin Meyer plans to introduce a state bill that would ban the chemicals.
But wait a minute – the story from November 15, 2011 says that the DEA already listed these ingredients onto a list of controlled substances, effective in the entire United States. So why would Anchorage and Alaska need a separate law?
Anchorage city attorney Dennis Wheeler explained that a state law will help because the federal government might not prosecute some of the lower-level cases. The scary thing is that newer versions appear again and again. There were only 5 synthetic drugs known about a year ago, and now there is a list of over 400 chemicals.
People take these drugs by snorting them, swallowing them, or pushing them inside of their rectums. The people who are seen in the emergency rooms come in confused and agitated with increased heart rates and sometimes arrhythmia. They are also very paranoid, which is common with stimulants.
