Warning issued about synthetic drug use

Public safety officials called on parents Thursday to talk with teenagers about the potential danger of using a rapidly growing assortment of synthetic drugs sold in small and colorful packages, noting that an increasing number of young Iowans are requiring emergency hospital treatment after using the substances.

“New products that may be just as harmful as K2 and other synthetic compounds recently outlawed in Iowa are making teenagers sick and sending them to hospital emergency rooms,” Dale Woolery, acting director of the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. “Our office will ask the Legislature to expand Iowa's law to ban additional synthetic drugs of danger as we identify them, but the urgent need now is for education to keep people safe.”

The public safety alert was issued from an emergency room at Des Moines' Mercy Medical Center, where some teenagers have been treated for the effects of their synthetic drug use by center director Dr. Tom McAuliff and his colleagues. Joining McAuliff and Woolery for the announcement were the parents of two Iowa teens stricken by synthetic drugs, and other health and law enforcement officials.

“As some have suggested, smoking any of these newer synthetic drugs labeled as ‘incense' or ‘potpourri' is like playing Russian roulette,” Woolery said. “I urge parents to talk with their teenagers about these products immediately, because while we may not always know what's in them, it's not worth risking a life to find out.”

A national study issued this week indicated that one in nine high school seniors report using synthetic cannabinoids -- the most prevalent of the designer drugs -- during the last 12 months. Congress is working on a more expansive federal law to outlaw a larger number of synthetic compounds, Woolery noted.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who authored legislation pending before the Senate to ban the chemicals used to make the dangerous drug known as “K2” or “Spice,” said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has banned some of the chemicals used to make these drugs, but the ban is limited and temporary.

Congress needs to act to impose a permanent ban, Grassley said in a statement, noting that state bans aren't enough.

“What's passed in one state might be different than what's passed in another state, so kids can go across the river to another state to find the drugs. Many of the chemicals in these drugs are imported, especially from China. States are very limited in capturing the drugs at U.S. ports of entry,” Grassley said.

“These drugs are toxic and dangerous,” he said. “Their availability at the local mall or online does not make them safe. Just because you can buy something in a shiny package with a cute name does not mean safety is assured. Cynical manufacturers and sellers peddle these products either not knowing or not caring about their content or effects.”

Iowa's law listing eight synthetic drug compounds as schedule I controlled substances took full effect in September. Since then, a small but steadily growing number of teenagers have been admitted to emergency rooms suffering from anxiety attacks, paranoia, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeats, elevated blood pressure, vomiting, suicidal thoughts and other related injuries, Woolery said.

“Thankfully, most Iowa businesses choose not to sell these new synthetic substances, and I ask the few who are marketing them to voluntarily halt such sales,” he noted. “The last thing we need is a new generation of drugs threatening the health and safety of our next generation.”