State patrol lab ready to test for now-illegal synthetic marijuana

Southeast Missouri law enforcement agencies may have no problems enforcing a new law that has made a synthetic marijuana illegal, but officers are still without equipment to test for the drug while on patrol.

The law banning K2, also called "spice," went into effect Aug. 28, and the crime laboratory at Missouri State Highway Patrol headquarters is equipped to begin testing for chemicals that make up the drug when local agencies make requests, said Sgt. Dale Moreland, spokesman for Troop E.

Missouri is the eighth state in the country to ban K2 -- herbs blended with certain chemicals that when smoked is said to mimic the effects of THC, a compound in marijuana.

"I think it was a good thing they got this law passed right away," said Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force supervisor Kevin Glaser. "It's going to keep it from becoming a huge problem."

Sgt. Branden Caid, investigator with the Scott County Sheriff's Department, said having no access to equipment to test for K2 in the field may slow court proceedings.

Caid said the county would have to send samples to the state crime lab if they found the substance in a vehicle or residence search. Sgt. Jason Selzer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department and Glaser said their agencies would also need to send possible samples of the substance the highway patrol's lab.

Caid said he's still researching companies that may offer a solution and soon develop a field testing kit.

"The issue is identifying what it would take to put that into a test kit. The drug got ahead of the technology to detect it," Caid said. "I'm sure if we contact some of the known developers, they'd have something in the works."

Although several agencies are interested in having field testing kits of their own, Southeast Missouri law enforcement officers rarely encounter K2 and remain unfamiliar with what sort of effects it has on its users.

"I don't think it's been studied extensively. It was just kind of one of those drugs that popped up," Glaser said.

Caid said the department's officers encountered it during one or two stops this year.

In Cape Girardeau, Selzer said school resource officers for the department saw it fewer than five times at the high school and junior high before the law took effect.

"The people that are going to do this kind of thing just go for the real drug," Selzer said.

Because consequences for possession of K2 are the same as for marijuana, Glaser said he doesn't anticipate problems enforcing the law. Although he doesn't condone it, he said he expects K2 users will switch over to marijuana.

"Why settle for [K2] when the consequences are the same? A lot of people ventured into using the synthetic because there weren't any legal ramifications for that, and now there are," Glaser said.

Possession of less than 35 grams or less of K2 is a misdemeanor, punishable up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Users face up to seven years in prison for possession of larger amounts.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635