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Nasty, nasty, nasty – Kern County Public Health Services Director Matt Constantine’s Feb. 14, 2017 report to the Kern County Board of Supervisors on the dangers of Spice, a synthetic marijuana substance, was an eye-opener. The substance corrodes the brain and destroys young lives forever. There’s no coming back from the devastating effects of this substance, which people continue to manufacture, even knowing the deadly effects. They sell the drug cheaply in brightly colored packets (see photo) that look innocent and fun. The substance inside looks like marijuana or like a potpourri of ground up herbs.

The county health department is campaigning for tighter municipal ordinances that enable law enforcement to shut down manufacturing sites quickly. “We need cities to consider stronger enforcement action,” Constantine said. Brynn Carrigan, assistant director of Public Health Services, said that the man-made drug is sprayed with various concentrated chemicals that produce a hallucinogenic effect. One in nine high school students have experimented with Spice, she said.

Spice makes people psychotic, Carrigan said, leading to schizophrenia, an altered state of consciousness and “a brain like jelly.” Youngsters freeze up like zombies, she said. “I’ve seen kids take one hit of the stuff and their behavior becomes bizarre and violent.”

“This is a nasty, nasty drug,” she said. Constantine said his department will work with municipalities to craft ordinances that allow immediate action on Spice manufacturing facilities and the owners.The health department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency has been able to close a number of sales/manufacturing sites in Kern County, including various smoke shops and “discount” stores.

Constantine said that people in the community can help eradicate the sources of Spice. “We need the community to respond. We need the eyes and ears of the community.”

The physical impacts of the drug include pale skin, disorientation, vomiting, paranoid behavior, inability to speak, increased pulse, chills and/or sweating, unconsciousness, hallucinations, paralysis, lack of memory, seizures and aggressive behavior. The behavioral impacts include change in grooming habits, severe anxiety, loss of interest in extracurricular activities, lack of interest in family and/or friend relationships and changes in social settings.

A mother who is actively fighting to control the spread of the drug said of her son, “The doctors told me he would never be the same again, that the effects of Spice are not reversible, and that the damage is already done.” Her web site is SpiceWarJJBattle.com.

The email contact for the health department is spice@co.kern.ca.us . The department’s web page with information about Spice is kernpublichealth.com/spice-5.