Convenience stores, gasoline stations and other shops across Alabama have the green light to sell a crumbled, dried plant laced with synthetic cannabis to people of all ages.
Buyers of all ages may use the flavored potpourri known by such names as Spice, MF or Coma Candy as a fragrance. Most, however, smoke it to get high off a synthetic chemical that producers spray on the dried plant, which is similar in composition to marijuana.
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State Health Officer Dr. Don Williamson has called a public hearing on Spice for 9:30 a.m. Monday at the state Capitol auditorium in Montgomery.
Williamson said he needs to determine whether the state Public Health Department can ban Spice — at least long enough for the Legislature to consider a new law.
Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board enforcement officers, including Chris Proctor, are working with police departments in cities such as Moulton and Red Bay that want local bans. Council members in Red Bay will consider that city’s proposal Monday night.
Williamson said he needs more than anecdotal evidence to determine if he can ban sales of the substance through regulation.
“Apparently, it’s easy to modify the chemical that is similar — but not identical — to cannabis, which is a controlled substance,” Williamson said.
As a doctor, Williamson said the side effects he hears about are troubling.
“It is especially troubling to think young teens are using it,” Williamson said. “Their brains work differently from when they are older. They perceive risk differently. As they get older, they are less likely to take those risks.”
Dave Peacock, an ABC enforcement attorney, said the agency wants the substance banned statewide. He said ABC officers reportedly see lots of Spice in convenience stores where the agency regulates beer and wine sales across the state.
Legislation previously outlawed the chemical that is used in Spice to cause a high, but manufacturers changed the chemical slightly so it is legal again, Peacock said.
“There is no visual way to tell the difference between Spice and legal potpourri, and that is part of the problem,” Peacock said.
Identifying the good from the bad potpourri requires chemical analysis at the extremely busy state lab at Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which is already limping along on a tight budget.
Red Bay Police Chief Janna Jackson said her department initially encountered Spice a year ago in a $1,000 shipment of bath salts somebody brought to town from a Florida company to sell locally. A state ban on sale or possession of the chemical in hallucinogenic bath salts had just taken effect.
“Then we found out a convenience store (in Red Bay) was selling Spice under the counter,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she asked the convenience store owner to voluntarily stop selling it. The owner, who was not violating any state or local law, agreed to stop selling that day even though it was popular with customers.
“He was very nice about it,” said Jackson, noting the “little bitty black and purple bags” sold for about $25 each.
Jackson asked the City Council to pass an ordinance banning the use, sale or delivery of Spice in Red Bay and drafted the ordinance the council will consider Monday. She said the Cordova City Council already passed an ordinance to ban Spice.
Moulton Police Chief Lyndon McWhorter said he adapted Jackson’s proposal for Moulton. He said he hopes to present it to the City Council after the city attorney reviews it.
McWhorter said he’s seeing evidence of driver impairment among people who smoke Spice and then drive.
“I stopped one man for a tag violation and his speech was slurred,” McWhorter said. “I asked him if he’d been smoking pot. He said no, and pulled a package of Spice that he said he was smoking out of his pocket.”
The man passed a field sobriety test at the site that showed he was “not under the influence,” so McWhorter sent him on his way.
“It wasn’t illegal,” McWhorter said.
Several convenience stores in the area sell Spice, and because it’s legal, even young teens can buy it, McWhorter said. “I’m a parent of an 11 year old and that bothers me,” he said.
Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said Spice is a problem in his county and around the state. At a recent meeting of the Alabama Sheriff’s Association, Blakely said the group voiced support of a statewide ban.
Like McWhorter, Blakely said he is concerned about people who use Spice and then drive.
“I don’t see how you could drive well if you’re under its influence,” he said.
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