[Stardust]

INDEPENDENCE - Some convenience stores, head shops, liquor stores and gas stations across Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati are selling what officials describe as "synthetic marijuana."

If the mother and grandmother of 19-year-old Chris Allen can change that, they will. The young man they raised in Florence and Independence went on a two-day binge three weeks ago that led him into a Kentucky state psychiatric hospital with delusions and paranoia. The two are on a mission of informing parents how dangerous and deadly the stuff can be.

The drugs supposedly mimic the effects of the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, and are known as herbal spice, K2, spice incense and "fake pot" - even innocent-sounding "potpourri." Other names include Seven-H and Funky Monkey, said Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. Other brands sold locally are Dead Man Walking, Apocalypse, Stuff, "Boo-Berry Fragrant Potpourri," and California Kronic.

Many states, including Kentucky and Ohio, and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency have banned substances used to produce fake pot, blaming the chemicals for provoking reactions such as seizures and hallucinations. The substances remain in circulation because manufacturers play a cat-and-mouse game, adapting their formulas using chemicals not included in bans.

In Ohio, a law will take effect Oct. 17 that will classify many of the chemicals in such products as Schedule I substances, alongside heroin and cocaine, with similar penalties for selling or possession.

Each of the past two years Kentucky has passed laws making such products illegal, but the producers' chemists have slightly altered the chemicals they use to edge around the law.

"We've got to educate people about this," said Chris Allen's grandmother Patricia Allen.

"We really feel like many of your young adults are smoking this," said his mother, Jennifer Allen. "We don't want anybody to have to go through what we've gone through. It's been very hard."

The two women also plan to lobby Kentucky legislators for more effective law changes that are more comprehensive.

Unknown interactions pose danger
At least nine people had died nationally in 12 months from suicides and other incidents directly related to synthetic drugs, according to an Associated Press article in April. The drugs also had sent at least 2,700 Americans to the hospital during this year's first three months. That was up from 3,200 cases all of 2010, the AP reported.

"Unfortunately, we're hearing more and more reports every day," Ingram said. "I think I had at least one call every day last week about this stuff."

With such products being sold from store shelves, parents need to take "great interest" in anything their kids are consuming, said Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders. "If the kid says, 'Aw, Mom, don't worry, they sell this stuff down at the gas station,' that doesn't mean it's something safe to put in your body."

Labels on a fake-marijuana product called Dead Man Walking warn: "Not for Human Consumption" and "Warning. Extremely High Potency." Its labels do not identify its manufacturer or its contents.

Incidents in central Ohio involving synthetic drugs have involved a naked man standing on top of his car, which he was beating with a tire iron. In another, a woman suffering hallucinations ran through a neighborhood, banging on doors, said Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services spokesman Eric Wandersleben.

Brad DeCamp, manager of treatment and recovery services for the Ohio agency, said some portion of the synthetic compound interacts in more dangerous ways than the compound in marijuana, THC, would act by itself.

That causes problems for doctors trying to treat those harmed by the chemicals, like Chris Allen, his mother said.

"Because they're not for sure of the chemicals in this, it's going to be a matter of trial-and-error tests" to see what drugs might help him, she said. "As of now, Chris is still in a delusional, paranoid state and we're not for sure how long, if he'll ever come out of this."

Chris Allen's dramatic downfall happened shortly after grandmother Patricia Allen made him move out of her Florence home.

His mother was trying to get him into court-ordered drug rehabilitation but before that court hearing, Chris, the oldest of her four children, went on a two-day binge. His mother later found him high, conducting a crazed "Bible study" with a distant cousin.

Independence police took him to St. Elizabeth Healthcare's Behavioral Health Center in Edgewood, according to police documents.

He has suffered from attention deficit disorder, mood swings and had anger issues, his grandmother and mother said, but never any paranoia or delusions.

But now, "He thinks I'm a ghost," his mother said.

The way his mother sees it, mixing synthetic marijuana with mental health issues is like pouring kerosene on a small fire.

"It's the saddest thing in the world to look at this beautiful, beautiful child and know that he is so paranoid," Patricia Allen said. "I know as a grandmother how much it tears my heart out. I think how much more Jennifer's (pain) is, being the mother."

Allen's symptoms "are in line with what we've seen," said DeCamp of the Ohio drug agency.

Easily available, still unsafe
Chris Allen's mother and grandmother believe that he got his products at a Clark gas station at 6909 Dixie Highway in Florence.

The store sells in two sizes of small glass jars: $14.99 for small ones and $29.99 for larger ones. An owner of the store Sunny Singh calls it herbal incense, and says it's not for smoking.

"We are not the only one who was selling around here," he said. "Every store sells. Everyone sells here."

"We sell gas every day," Singh said. "If people want to drink the gas, it's for cars. It's their problem."

He said the store didn't sell to anyone under 18: "We don't sell without checking ID. Not even cigarettes."

An Enquirer spot check of stores found that similar products were available at several Greater Cincinnati locations, including stores in Loveland, Anderson Township, Pleasant Ridge, Dent, Corryville and Newport. A sign at High on the Hill, 8683 Batavia Road, says herbal incenses Bayou and Demon will be sold through Oct. 16, the last day allowed by state law.

At the Clark store recently, when a reporter asked for herbal incense, a man behind the counter produced a plastic container filled with an assortment of packages from beneath the counter. Singh told The Enquirer the store stopped selling such products that afternoon.

Ingram said that stores are hiding behind the disclaimer "Not for human consumption," that appears on many products.

"There's a real misperception that just because things are legal, they're safe," Ingram said.

They're not, says Florence Police Capt. John McDermond.

"No matter where it may be sold or how innocently it may be packaged," McDermond said. "It can do incredible damage, as we have seen."

After more than a week in the Lexington hospital, Chris Allen's mother and grandmother said he was slowly improving. "He has improvement, but there's a long way to go," his mother said.