Synthetic marijuana still legal in parts of Miss.

The ban of a substance known as “K2” or “Spice” has been passed in the Mississippi cities of Moss Point and Gautier.

Moss Point and Gautier are the third and fourth cities to ban the substance in Mississippi.

In June, Southaven and Olive Branch in DeSoto County banned the product for sale or consumption.

Spice is a mix of herbs and synthetic cannabinoids that, when smoked, produce a high similar to that of marijuana.

The synthetic cannabis compound was created in a laboratory at Clemson University and was meant for research in creating therapeutic drugs and laboratory testing, according to Earnest Magazine, the Clemson University Engineering and Science magazine.

Spice comes in various flavors including strawberry and blueberry. I is marketed as herbal incense or potpourri, not as a way to obtain a legal high. It does not show up on drug tests, according to Marshall Fischer, part of Mississippi Narcotics Bureau.

The narcotics bureau has seen a larger number of synthetic cannabis users in the past year, Fisher said. He said he has met with various state lawmakers and bureaus in an attempt to get legislation to ban it.

The substance would be classified as a schedule 1 drug, meaning that there is no medicinal use for it.

Senator Gray Tollison said spice is basically a synthetic THC, an ingredient in marijuana.

When asked about a statewide ban of the substance, Tollison said, “We hope the governor puts in a special session about it, if not, it won’t be until January 2011.”

Spice was found in several tobacco and convenience stores in Oxford. Some stores keep it in a case next to the cash register, but other stores require purchasers to ask for it by name. Prices locally range from $10 to $28, depending on the amount.

The stores willing to answer questions said that the substance sells, and that there is no typical age of the buyer in Oxford.

However, the store owners and managers asked to remain nameless.

“I wish we never would have stocked it,” one store manager said.

Another spice merchant said that he had not heard the news of the ban along the Gulf Coast.

His supplier is located in a city near the ban areas. 

Captain Keith Davis, of the Oxford Police Department Narcotics Division, said a ban on spice has yet to be discussed in the city government.

He also said there have been incidents related to the usage of K2, but the inability to charge forpossession means no arrests for having or using it.

“Spice is not illegal, so we can’t track its use yet,” Davis said.

“Therefore, we can’t charge for it until the state or federal government makes it illegal.”

According to Fisher, many of the synthetic cannabinoid products are marked as harmful if consumed by humans on their packaging.

One death has been linked to spice usage, The New York Times reported on July 10.

Other side effects to usage have included severe vomiting and the loss of consciousness, Fisher said.

“There is a health risk involved,” Tollison said.

“Young people need to be very careful using it.”

Even regular marijuana users are smoking spice.

Fisher said that in a recent conversation a sheriff told him that marijuana users preferred spice to marijuana because it was “twice as high, if only for half the time.”

“There are reports that it is 100 times more potent than marijuana,” Fisher said.

Tennessee, Kansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama have imposed statewide bans since the beginning of 2010. Since the beginning of July, both Missouri and Arkansas have put bans in place. Louisiana, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Ohio and New Jersey are also looking to put prohibitions in place.