Teenage drinking and cigarette smoking is at a historic low, but that isn’t stopping high schoolers from experimenting with other recreational drugs. Marijuana use and prescription drug abuse are continuing at high rates, and according to a new startling trend report that focuses on teens, 1 in 9 high school seniors are abusing a dangerous, but readily available new drug known as synthetic marijuana.
More than 11 percent of 12th graders admitted using synthetic marijuana, also known as “Spice” or “K2” by the seniors, over the last year.
The Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Gil Kerlikoeske, called the results shocking.
“One in nine 12th graders in America have used synthetic marijuana in the last year. Spice and K2 now rank as the second most frequently used illegal drug among high school seniors, second only to marijuana,” Kerlikowske said
Until recently, synthetic marijuana was being sold as a legal alternative to the real drug in convenience stores all over the country. Then, the DEA sent an emergency order banning the sale of the five chemicals used to make the synthetic marijuana that took effect March 1.
Police are appealing to parents to help combat the spread of the synthetic drug, which can have the same effects as marijuana including impaired driving and judgment. Since synthetic marijuana is a relatively new phenomenon, police say that many parents aren’t even aware it exists and don’t know that it is a rising problem.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is working on a federal initiative in response to Spice/K2 that includes working with public health organizations to share statistics and data and coordinate a response. They are also working with Congress to get new laws passed that will ban these drugs.
Researchers say next year’s survey will reveal more about the effectiveness of the control measures, since much of this year’s survey covered a response period before the federal action took effect.
By: South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyer Pete Strom
