Synthetic Marijuana Banned From Store Shelves

Synthetic marijuana, marketed with names such as “K2” or “Scooby Snax” and also known as “monkey weed” and “spice,” should soon be off the shelves of convenience stores and gas stations in Rhode Island. 

Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed last week a bill that banned the product in Rhode Island – one of the last states to do so -- after 15 years of intoxicating students even though it was not that well-known to many people.

Except to kids. It was the third-most used product to get high at Barrington High School, said Kathy Sullivan, who directs The BAY Team substance abuse prevention coalition in Barrington. 

Synthetic pot was banned along with “bath salts” and other synthetic cannabinoids and cathiones, which have been known to cause people to become delirious and violent, and can cause high blood pressure, vomiting and other deadly health complications. 

Removing synthetic marijuana from store shelves can’t come soon enough for Sullivan.

“It mimics the effects of marijuana,” she said. “But you really don’t know what the kids are using.”

That’s because it’s made up of a ground-up motley of leaf products that are sprayed with psychotropic and hallucinogenic drugs and sold as a type of potpourri to kids with scents and flavors such as strawberry and watermelon.

If you find a package of “K2” or “Snooby Snax” in your child’s bedroom, become very concerned. It hasn’t been sold in Barrington, said Sullivan, but it can be found in stores in neighboring towns.

Warnings on the packages say it should not be smoked or ingested, said Sullivan. But that hasn’t stop kids from getting high on it. And for other kids with addictions, it can be very dangerous.

“We tried to make people aware of it,” Sullivan said. “It’s pretty nasty stuff.”

It was being sold for roughly $10 to $15 a pouch, she said, which makes it less expensive than marijuana and, thus, easier on the wallet.

Some stores may try to sell off their inventory of the product even with the ban, which went into effect immediately, she said. You can’t let down your guard.