Fake drug bans clear W.Va. chambers

CHARLESTON — Both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature adopted measures Wednesday that aim to stop the latest wave of synthetic drugs from being sold and used in the state.

By unanimous votes, the Senate and House of Delegates adopted their own versions of legislation that would outlaw the sale, distribution and possession of synthetic marijuana and synthetic cocaine.

Synthetic marijuana is sold under such brand names as "K2" or "Spice" and is marketed as potpourri. It is sold on the Internet and has been found in adult-oriented shops and drug paraphernalia stores.

Synthetic cocaine, meanwhile, is sold under brand names like "Ivory Wave." It is marketed as bath salts and sold in small quantities online and at some local tobacco shops.

Both fad drugs have caught the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration and a growing number of cities, counties and states. The DEA used its emergency authority in December and banned five chemicals used to make synthetic marijuana.

The federal ban came just a few days after Huntington became one of the first cities in West Virginia to outlaw the sale of fake pot. Huntington City Council later banned the possession of it as well.

On Tuesday, White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske warned people against taking synthetic cocaine. The American Association of Poison Control Centers has received 251 calls related to the designer drug so far this year, compared with 236 calls to poison centers in all of 2010, according to The Associated Press.

Synthetic stimulants such as MPVD -- 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, and mephedrone -- that are found in the drug produce effects similar to cocaine, ecstasy and LSD.

Both bills in the Legislature, Senate Bill 63 and House Bill 2505, add MPDV and dozens of synthetic cannabinoids to the state's list of Schedule I controlled substances. The measures also use language that makes it easier to add more synthetic stimulants in the future, said Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne.

The Senate's version gives the Board of Pharmacy discretion in adding a drug as a Schedule I substance in an emergency capacity. That would get the drug off the street immediately and give the Legislature time to explore the issue further, said Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, who added the provision to the bill as it moved through the committee process.

"We're giving the Board of Pharmacy powers to put these drugs on the controlled substance list the minute they hit the market," Jenkins said. "The proactive nature of this bill is the magic of what we are doing here."

Jenkins also successfully made an amendment to the bill on the Senate floor Wednesday that adds N-Benzylpiperazine, which has street names such as BZP or AZ, to the state's list of Schedule I controlled substances. The drug already is a Schedule I controlled substance on the federal level, he said. Adding it to the state's list allows county prosecutors to pursue charges involving the drug, he said.

The drug, which produces effects similar to amphetamine, is popular among teens and young adults as a substitute for ecstasy at all-night dance parties, according to the DEA.

Jenkins said he felt compelled to add the drug to the Senate bill upon learning Tuesday that the West Virginia State Police's forensic science lab has dealt with more than 50 cases involving the drug during the past year.

"It's prevalent in other states, but we're clearly starting to see it on the streets of West Virginia as well," he said.

The Senate and House bills now cross paths to their opposite chambers for consideration. Perdue, who is chairman of the House's Health and Human Resources Committee, said he is supportive of the Board of Pharmacy provision and the addition of BZP to the list of Schedule I controlled substances, as specified in the Senate bill.

"The new substance has been described to the Legislature only very recently, but that stands as an indictment of our apparent inability to come up with language that allows us to be proactive enough to nip those kinds of things earlier on," Perdue said. "In effect, the introduction of these types of drugs will require a constant and vigilent effort, not because human nature cannot be changed, but because our children are too precious not to protect them from those elements of it that are potentially lethal."

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

The herbal incense, Cyclone, a brand of synthetic marijuana, is legal and readily available for purchase at several locations in the Tri-State.