Odd

Two months ago, the DEA ruled a 12-month emergency ban on synthetic cannabis chemicals being sold legally in convenience stores nationwide under the moniker, “Spice.” The emergence of Spice is a direct result of cannabis prohibition; nobody would buy fake weed if they could buy the real thing. Now that Spice has also been banned, another legal drug is popping up to fulfill the demand of drug consumers who are deprived of their natural birthright to the perfectly safe pleasure-chemicals provided by marijuana.

This time, instead of harsh herb clippings sprayed with synthetic cannabis, we have deadly bath salts on our hands. Sold once more in convenience stores throughout the USA under names like Vanilla Sky and Ivory Wave, these salts contain a synthetic stimulant called mephedrone. This is an amphetamine-class chemical that can be smoked, snorted, injected or simply mixed with water. Even mild users report that the hallucinations the drug induces are horrible, with psychosis a regularly re-occurring result.

Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center, has reported a case of mephedrone psychosis involving a man sealing himself inside his attic with a rifle and vowing to “kill the monsters before they kill me.” Another case Ryan has reported involves a bath salt user vowing to remove his own liver using a mechanical pencil as a surgical tool.

Now the DEA is considering enacting another 12-month ban on the amphetamine bath salts, just like it did with Spice, except this time I agree that the drug in question should be restricted. Health of the user and addiction potential are legitimate measures to go by when considering if a chemical should be restricted. These bath salts are clearly a health problem, and evidence suggests that these salty stimulants have massive potential for addiction, similar to other amphetamine drugs.

What the DEA refuses to realize is that the rise of methed-out bath salts is of its own doing. The only person who checks in to a rehabilitation clinic for marijuana is someone who was ordered to do so by a court of law, or a supremely lazy person. At no point in history has independent evidence suggested that marijuana induces permanent psychosis or is physiologically addicting. Both characteristics have been attributed to the meth salts.

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A California man reported the theft of 25 pounds of marijuana from his home to police, claiming the drugs were legally grown, authorities said.

Police in Newport Beach responded to a call from a resident about two men breaking into a neighbor's home, the Newport Beach Daily Pilot reported Friday.

When police located the homeowner, he reported boxes packed with marijuana worth about $50,000 were taken and that he had a permit allowing him to grow marijuana, police Sgt. Steve Burdette said.

Authorities said they would not identify the man because at this point he's considered the victim of a residential burglary.

Newport Beach does not have any kind of license or permit that allows people to grow marijuana, city attorney David Hunt said.

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 Police say a Connecticut man called 911 to ask a dispatcher how much trouble he could get into by growing one marijuana plant, then was arrested.

Farmington police say a dispatcher told 21-year-old Robert Michelson on Thursday night that he could get arrested for growing pot, and Michelson said thank you and hung up.

Officers went to Michelson's house and seized a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Michelson has admitted he bought seeds and equipment for growing.

Michelson was released on $5,000 bail after being charged with marijuana possession and other crimes. A woman who answered the phone at his home Friday said he wasn't available for comment.

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The U.S. National Guard spotted would-be drug smugglers on video Jan. 21 near the Naco Border Patrol station along the Mexico-Arizona border setting up a catapult, which was probably intended to be used to launch marijuana over the border.

“This is definitely an unusual find,” U.S. Border Patrol agent Jason Rheinfrank told the Star on Thursday. “It’s definitely something new.”

The border agency released a clip of a video that shows the suspects setting up the catapult and testing it without putting anything in the catapult.

The National Guard then contacted the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, who contacted Mexican authorities. Mexican authorities arrived and “nothing was actually launched across the border,” Rheinfrank explained.

Officials seized an SUV, which was attached to the catapult on a trailer-like vehicle, and approximately 45 pounds of marijuana.

The suspects fled the area before they could be captured.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- New York police said they arrested two men accused of running a high-end cocaine and marijuana business they advertised with business cards.

Investigators said an informant found the business cards advertising the drug-dealing services of Thomas Zenon and Miguel Guzman in a New York University dorm, and undercover officers made 12 buys during a three-month period, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

Police said Zenon and Guzman, who were arrested Wednesday, had more than 200 customers in the Manhattan borough. The men were scheduled to be arraigned on drug charges Friday.

Officers said Guzman was en route to a delivery when he was arrested Wednesday and was holding 16 grams of cocaine, more than $1,600 cash and four cellphones. Zenon was arrested at a restaurant with more than $600 in addition to 20 bags of marijuana found in his car.

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If you are illegally transporting marijuana across the United States, do you call the cops if you are carjacked?

That dilemma faced two people Friday night as they allegedly hauled 170 pounds of high grade marijuana from Utah to North Carolina.

In the middle of Wyoming - on Interstate 80 near Sinclair - the marijuana traffickers had their car hijacked, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

The victims decided to call the cops.

As of Wednesday, three people are in custody - the man and woman who were allegedly transporting the marijuana - and one of the two male carjackers, according to Sgt. Stephen Townsend, spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Townsend said that about 9 p.m. Friday, troopers were told of the alleged carjacking. The victims said a couple of guys in a red SUV had taken their car by force. The victims had been left unharmed next to the interstate.

A short time later, troopers spotted both the red SUV and the carjacked vehicle. Two men were transferring bundles of marijuana from the car to the SUV.

When the alleged carjackers spotted the cops, they sped away, tossing packages of marijuana from the SUV.

At Rawlins, the SUV sped into town. One of the alleged carjackers jumped out. The SUV slammed into a snow bank and the driver fled.

The first of the alleged carjackers was apprehended with the help of the Rawlins Police Department.

The second guy got away.

Officials seized the marijuana, which has a street value of about $425,000.

Read more:Alleged marijuana traffickers call cops after their car is hijacked