OUR VIEW: Logan and Cache get serious about Spice
Spice has been filling headlines for months. Spice is the brand name and the generic for this product, also known as Black Mamba and K2, which carries a label reading “incense: not intended for human consumption.”
Spice is a dried plant-based product that produces a “high” for its user. Tuesday night, Logan City council passed an ordinance banning the drug. We agree with the actions of the city and applaud their efforts. The ordinance was passed unanimously and we commend Logan city for joining other jurisdictions around the country and in Utah, including Cache County, to enact anti-spice laws. This ordinance will take effect upon media publication – so, pretty much, now. If you have it, get rid of it, if you don’t … you won’t.
Spice is a big issue, even here on USU’s campus. In a survey taken by The Utah Statesman, up to 12 percent of students have used Spice. The scary thing is, Spice wasn’t a problem more than a year ago. We hadn’t even heard of it. It just emerged from the shadows and became more prevalent among all age groups, down to as young as 12.
On the first day of classes, the Health and Wellness Center saw a student in need of treatment for Spice-related problems. The task force here in Logan has also seen an increase of hospital visits and crimes associated with people using spice. We may think we live in a sheltered little town, but we are wrong. As Logan City Chief of Police Gary Jensen said, passing this ordinance is a step forward for our community. Getting ahead of the problem – while it is still just a problem and not the potential epidemic it could become if left unchecked – puts us in league with bigger cities with far worse problems, like Ogden, who also banned spice recently.
While it is true that not all of the possible properties or effects of spice are known or well-documented, circumventing the possible ill-effects now will prevent us from learning the hard way.
Even though Spice is marketed as an incense, it contains side effects when smoked that mirror those of not only marijuana, which many consider harmless, but also the negative effects of drugs like methamphetemines or cocaine, which we feel fairly certain no one is likely to call “harmless.” If the day comes that the laws concerning marijuana or other currently-illegal drugs are rescinded, than perhaps spice should be liberated as well. For now, we applaud the consistency and foresight of our local legislators.