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Synthetic drugs pose lethal problem
Nevada Daily Mail
Today's drug culture continues to evolve and law enforcement does the same to combat the challenge, Shane Hirschman of the Synthetic Drug Task Force told members of the Nevada Lions Club at a recent meeting.
While synthetic substances known as K-2 and "bath salts" remain a challenge, variations of these drugs and a new concoction, krokodil, a mixture of meth and heroin, are showing up in the greater Kansas City and St. Louis areas.
The variations of these synthetic drugs are so numerous that often, testing labs are hard pressed to identify and keep up with these changes, he said.
"These drugs are being made in very uncontrolled environments," said Hirschman, such as a bathtub, and are being made by just about anyone.
"And they're not always showing up on the tests."
The good news, said Hirschman, is that these aren't being sold in businesses here locally at present.
That's in part due to a change in the federal law that added the wording "mind-altering substances," rather than specifying specific drugs.
Earlier, these substances that were marketed "not for human consumption," skirted the law because they weren't specifically banned by the law.
As recently as 2013, these synthetics were being sold in Vernon County by store owners.
"Two local businesses were selling it. They even sold it to a uniformed officer," said Hirschman, recounting a visit he and another officer made to the stores.
While that's not happening here anymore, he said, the synthetics are finding their way into the area due to distribution in the larger metro areas.
"You can smoke it, inject it, it's even being dispersed in the air at some clubs," said Hirschman.
"It's being marketed to kids."
Hirschman and the task force have continued to get the word out. The group held a public forum Oct. 23, 2012, at the high school, and has continued to work closely with the school system to explain what synthetic drugs are, what they look like, how they're used, and signs and symptoms of using such substances.
"People need to know this is very, very, very dangerous," Hirschman said. Available in herbal form, in a powder form or in a liquid, the drugs often cause paranoia and other dangerous side effects.
Makers of the synthetic drugs manage to dodge testing efforts by making a slight chemical change to the mix, making it an entirely new substance with unknown side effects.
The powder form is most commonly called Pump it. The herbal form, synthetic marijuana, also known as K-2, is sold under the names of Game Over and Brain Freeze.
Krokodil, so named because using it results in the person's skin first turning scaly and green and then literally falling off, is the newest craze.
"It just eats away your skin and muscles."
Hirschman said this drug first started appearing in Russia in 2002 and then made its way to America.
"We know it is in Kansas City and St. Louis now."
This "cheaper heroin," is so lethal that users typically die in less than a year from the person's first use.
It's that message, synthetic drugs can kill, that Hirschman is working to get out.
"Our main goal with the Task Force is education," he concluded.
Among those organizations involved with the Synthetic Drug Task Force are probation and parole, the Nevada Police Department, the Vernon County Sheriff's Office, Pathways Community Behavioral Health Care, the court administrator, the juvenile office, Heartland Behavioral Health Services, the Vernon County Youth Task Force and Nevada R-5 schools.