Legal Sale of Herbal Incense Leaves Parents Feeling Powerless

A young Safety Harbor man's recent death leaves some parents feeling helpless against legal substances their teens can buy legally at area convenience stores and use to get high. 

Clearwater Police believe Logan Matthew Kushner, 19, smoked an herbal incense called Jazz — a synthetic drug that, when ingested, can mimic the effects of marijuana — just before he was found unresponsive at a Clearwater park on Jan. 8.

On the packaging, the substance is marked “not for human consumption.”

"Unfortunately, certain substances are used for human consumption although they are not intended for such purposes, as commonly seen with aerosols," Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said in a news release.

In March, the Drug Enforcement Agency banned five chemicals used to make "fake pot" because they caused seizures and hallucinations.

Those chemicals were found in the herbal incenses Spice and K2, which police first reported Kushner had smoked. 

Even with the bans, manufacturers continue to be one step ahead of the federal law. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says manufacturers simply alter the chemical makeup of a banned synthetic drug, creating a new chemical that is not banned.

Jazz is among hundreds of similar herbal incenses still legally sold at area convenience stores, head shops and gas stations in Florida, including Dunedin.

Law enforcement’s hands seem tied.

Gualtieri said fake pot is hard to police because the products are not marketed as marijuana.

"They don't fall within the counterfeit statute, and they don't fall within the chemical prohibition," he said. "We don't have any tests other than to send it to the lab."

Police elsewhere in the country have raided stores for selling synthetic drugs only to find out that the substances they seized are actually legal, The Tampa Bay Times reported. 

Safety Harbor mother Melanie Ditro told Dunedin Patch that she was furious when she found out her teen had purchased "fake pot"  near .

She said she went so far as to visit the store and verbally scold the cashier.

“Their response was they can sell it to whoever they want; there is no age limit on spice,” Ditro said. “I never thought this would happen to my child, but it did, and I am doing everything I can to help him.”

Gualtieri believes the battle against synthetic drugs will require more legislative action.

In Tallahassee, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is aware of Kushner's death and the synthetic drug problem.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of Logan Kushner's death, and this is exactly why we must do everything in our power to ban all synthetic drugs and protect Floridians," she said in a statement released by her office.

Bondi says she'll be working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session.

Clearwater Police are still awaiting Kushner's toxicology results to determine if other substances may have possibly contributed to his death. His funeral services were held Wednesday in Palm Harbor.

[Updated 3:16 p.m., Friday, Jan. 13, 2012]