Police chief warns parents of 'spice' dangers

Something smells fishy. In the FYI section, it says spice is 'incense' then directly below, spice is a 'drug'. It can't be incense and a drug at the same time; it can only be one or the other, based on laws of logic.

Second, the label 'not for human consumption' is probably to prevent any litigation because of stupid people who wouldn't know not to ingest or consume something without a label explicitly stating not to.

Third, adults should be able to do what they want to their own body as long as it doesn't endanger anyone else. Children obviously shouldn't do any drug.

Fourth, the adverse effects sound like effects of alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, fast food and I can go on and on.

Fifth, Follow the Constitution!!! The War on Drugs has been a dismal failure. It hasn't stopped supply, demand or use. It is a cause of violence in the border states and in the United States. Prohibition of alcohol didn't work, so the government got smart. If drugs are so dangerous, why doesn't the government control and regulate its manufacture and distribution instead of letting the underground market decide? Fine, drugs are bad but the Constitution acknowledges life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that our rights come from our humanity, our creator, not the government.

JamesLam:

YOU smell fishy. What is fishy about how Spice is described in the article? If someone packages something and calls it an incense, but spray it down with heroin, it certainly contains a drug, and is also "incense". Therefore, one could logically say that this incense, is indeed a drug. The same logic apllies with this crap, it is not sprayed with herioin, but it is sprayed with a drug, a synthetic compound similar to THC that gets people high when they smoke it. That is the point the article is making. That Spice is really a delivery method for synthetic compunds, synthetic drugs. And it is sound logic to describe it exactly the way it is described. The article is trying to educate people that something that is being called an incense actually contains a drug, and is being used as a drug. They are talking about the fact that people are smoking Spice and that fact is not only well known, but obviously the intended use and the result hoped for by the people maufacturing, selling, and profiting from Spice. Is this concept hard for you to handle?? You in the Spice trade perhaps? I have no idea, but why would someone make an argument that in any way supports Spice? It's garbage with no beneficial use to mankind that I can see. It's ridiculous that it has been allowed to exist this long. I am very happy that people are finally getting educated on this garbage, as I have seen these Spice dealer idiots handing samples out all over town in Boise, even at public events. Who wants Spice? Curious kids and people on probation and parole. The government has an obligation not only to protect these people from themselves, but also to protect them from people that would sell them soemthing harmful. I know that line gets dicey, and hard to see, and there are legitimate arguments to be made about liberty, but this sutff is a synthetic chemical that no one really knows much about. So in the name of Liberty you want it to exist? How about I cook up some other kinda chemical and spray it onto something and sell it to people to smoke? Where does it end? The government has to step in somewhere and protect us, not only from ourselves, but from people who don't care about us, and are only trying to make money, and don't care about the well being of anyone but themselves. I don't agree with the war on drugs either, it is an abismal failure, but this aint 1920. The facts of things are much easier to gather these days, and propaganda much harder to create. There is too much freedom of information for those of us willing to seek it out to be fooled by anything, and THAT liberty allows us to get informed on our own. This article is an example of liberty, and an example of the TRUTH. The freedom of information that exists today shows that this stuff is not natural, and is dangerous, and should not exist in any legal form. Scientific study may change that result some day, but as things stand right now, in the grand experiment of human experience, the bad things being said about spice are true, and intuitively make sense based on my life experience and understanding, not because the government told me so. There IS such a thing as good government intervention, and the sooner the government intervenes to get this crap recognized for what it truly IS and its intended use, the better.

I'm with ryan5ryan on this one. Something can be two substances at once. It's not hard.

Obviously the adverse reactions are a little worse than fast food, tobacco, etc. In fact, it sounds worse than marijuana itself.

ryan5ryan, there are a few cases in which government control really does protect us from ourselves. That's the chief purpose of government- to hold our hands when we cross the sidewalk to make sure we learn how to look both ways. This is an example of that.

lilmisselmo:

The role of government in our lives is a touchy subject for most people in Idaho. Most people I know(myself included) tend to think like Libertarians when it comes to personal freedoms. If I read you right, you would feel that even though the government tries to protect us from ourselves, they rarely achieve it. I would agree with that idea in principle. It seems to me that many of the laws they pass that attempt to do those kinds of things do not work very well. But I definitely do see the need for people that would cause themselves harm to be protected from themselves. Many of them that I have seen in my own life are parents of innocent children. These kids are being raised by irresponsilbe, ridiculous parents. What chance do these kids have to turn out okay??? For those who think that it's no ones business what someone does with thier own life, think about these kids and the huge price they pay for their parents' behavior, and how these kids are being conditioned to grow up and be just like their parents. Another point to think about is the fact that society always picks up the tab for these self destructive folks. The government pays for their rent, their food, and many other things. The governemnt pays for their hospital visits. The government pays to raise their children. These self destructive idiots are a terrible burden on society. So the more of them that can be educated, or stopped from their behavior, the better for everyone else too. They do need to be protected from themselves, for thier own good, the good of their children, the good of their community, and for the good of us all. As you point out, this is very hard to do, and rarely very effective, but does that mean the government should not even try? There are always going to be stupid and ridiculous people in the world, but maybe laws, rules, and education could help these people live a better life. People who don't know how to make obviously good choices for themselves need help, and they need help in not making obviously bad choices too. Many of them were raised by people who acted just the way that they currently are behaving, and they do need help to learn a new way of living life. But how do we achieve that? Maybe we haven't seen it figured out how to do that yet, but maybe someday we will.

ryan5ryan,

I think you may have read my post in a way that said there are few cases. In fact I said there are a few, denoting that the government does actually help sometimes. Not that it is unlikely- but that it does actually happen. =)

lilmisselmo:

Right you are! I misread what you wrote, my bad. I enjoy the debating of anything and am always looking to hear what other people think :) thanks for you comments!

Good article. I know someone who tried it with a group of friends that like Spice. She did get sick and started vomiting. At the very least they should regulate the drug. This is a pretty good wrap up of what spice is:

http://www.homehealthtesting.com/blog/2010/10/what-is-spice-the-ultimate-guide/