Area law enforcement recently conducted a roundup that ended inalmost 40 drug arrests, but there is a new foe on the streets thatthey can’t touch.

Yet.

A designer drug sold as an herbal incense, known on the streetamong other things as Voodoo, Spice, Spice Gold, K2, Blaze andSugar Sticks, mimics the effects of marijuana because on amolecular level, they’re almost identical, said SouthwestMississippi Interjurisdictional Narcotics Enforcement Unit DeputyCommander John Douglas.

“When we design a drug on a molecular level that has the sametype receptors that will on a molecular level hook up with thechemicals in our body and react the same way as one of those drugsdoes, it’s not that drug, it’s something else,” he said. “It’sdesigned on a molecular level, it’s replicated but it’s changedslightly, not enough to change its properties.”

So, Douglas said, it’s not going to show up in drug tests asmarijuana, although the effects on the body are the same asTetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the active ingredient inpot.

“When you burn it you inhale and it gets you high just likemarijuana. It doesn’t show in a drug test, nothing shows thatmetabolite,” he said. “It’s a way around it, a classic designerdrug. So it’s designed to be just like marijuana.”

The ‘design’ comes in where the molecules are almost identical,with just one less receptor on the synthetic molecule, Douglassaid. Thus it was engineered specifically to work like marijuana,but it’s not, so it isn’t illegal. Other local law enforcement saythat is why their hands are tied, even though the drug can bebought in gas stations and causes a dependence just like pot.

“Until the board does something about it there’s nothing I cando about it,” said Brookhaven Police Chief Pap Henderson. “Wehaven’t gotten a lot of reports, but I know it’s here and got acouple of reports about it a few weeks ago.”

Henderson said he’s seen samples in stores, and one gas stationon Industrial Park Road even has signs on the gas pumps, promotingthe substance, which also goes by the name “blaze.”

“We haven’t addressed it on the local level yet, because it’sjust coming into play around here,” said Sheriff Steve Rushing.”We’ve seen some of it, but hasn’t quite hit us yet.”

The Brookhaven Board of Aldermen discussed the substance at aJune board meeting, coming to the conclusion that City Attorney JoeFernald and Henderson would seek an opinion from the attorneygeneral’s office and report back to the board.

In the meantime, Southaven and Horn Lake have passed ordinancesbanning the sale of the herbs that have been sold as incenseproducts at some local stores. It also includes a ban on syntheticmethamphetamine.

Last week, stores in unincorporated areas of Jackson County weregiven 30 days to remove herbal incense from their shelves as wellafter their district attorney drafted an ordinance creating amisdemeanor charge for anyone caught selling, buying, using,distributing or possessing the herbal incenses, as well as up to a$1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Meanwhile, several other Mississippi cities and counties arereportedly also taking steps to control sales of herbalincenses.

There are several legal hang-ups from the law enforcement side,Douglas said, and it’s just a case of waiting for the laws to catchup with criminal chemistry.

“This is not THC, it’s a brand new chemical so it’s legal untilthe legal system can catch up with it,” he said. “It’s the samething, and it has no medicinal value, a high potential of abuse oraddiction, like other schedule one drugs. The problem is for theLegislature and the federal and state government to catch up withwhat’s happening on the street – they have to list that chemical orit’s legal.”

More than the simple menace of a new drug on the street, Douglassaid, there’s also the danger of an unregulated substance. Sincethe drug is being sold as an incense with a disclaimer on it thatit’s “not for human consumption,” it’s not even regulated in theway cigarettes would be.

“They’re getting around the law, they’re getting around the FDA,because it’s not a food or a drug, it’s an incense,” he said. “Theyjust have to take some type of inert plant material and lace itwith this chemical, and inhale the smoke.”

Assistant Police Chief Nolan Jones said he was told the AttorneyGeneral’s office was in the progress of making a ruling on thesubstance, and there should be a solution in the next few weeks. Hesaid there’s no way to tell yet if the city will have to put lawsin place, or if police can just start enforcing a ban.

“We’ll just have to look at the ruling they’ve got and make adecision at that point,” he said. “We’ll look at how they’ve got itworded, and go from there.”