Spice or K2 is a form of synthetic marijuana.

Mom On A Mission

Parent's efforts help stop local Spice
sales; WB Township takes action.

Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer

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14 June 14 • 2012

JN

n the wake of widespread publicity

and at least one death related to a
synthetic drug known as Spice or
K2, a local parent and elected officials
are taking action to rid their communi-
ties of these dangerous substances.
The drug, which is available in many
gas stations and other retail establish-
ments, is marketed as incense or potpour-
ri. Although the packaging states it is "not
intended for human consumption," teens
and young adults have been using Spice
as a legal means to get high, smoking it in
rolled joints or pipes, or making it into tea.
Jill Sherman-Marx
is a Farmington Hills
mother of four children
— three are teenagers.
Determined to prevent
Spice/K2 from being
sold in neighborhood
stores, she conducted
her own investigation
Jill Sherman-
to learn where the sub-
Marx
stances were being sold
and to convince the retailers to take the
products off their shelves.
"I was on a mission; I just felt some-
body needed to protest the local busi-
nesses that are selling these substances:'
said Sherman-Marx. "I'm pretty passion-
ate about preventing its sale'
While she found most retailers willing
to remove the drugs, an encounter at a
Mobil station on the corner of Orchard
Lake Road and 12 Mile resulted in a Fox
2 News story featuring Sherman-Marx.
When the manager of that station refused
to remove his inventory of Spice, telling
the Fox 2 reporter to "just forget about it','
Sherman-Marx organized a protest for
the following day.
Before the protest could take place,
the situation was resolved by the station
owner, who happened to see the story
on television that night. He immediately
went to the station, fired the manager and
removed all the drugs from the shelves.
He apologized publicly, stating he was
unaware Spice was being sold there.
Spice is considered a form of synthetic
marijuana, but many experts agree that
its effects can be far more danger-
ous because of the chemical additives.
According to Robin Walsh, a chemical
dependency therapist at Maplegrove

Center in West Bloomfield, K2 can cause
hallucinations, seizures, vomiting, drowsi-
ness, paranoia, tremors, loss of physical
control, and higher blood pressure and
heart rates. Police reports cited a Spice
overdose as a possible cause of death of
a Bloomfield Township teen whose body
was discovered along the shore of Wing
Lake last month.
In West Bloomfield Township last
week, an emergency ordinance outlaw-
ing the sale of "Synthetic Marijuana and
Dangerous Products" was passed unani-
mously by the board of trustees. The law
was initiated by West Bloomfield Clerk
Cathy Shaughnessy and Trustee Howard
Rosenberg and drafted by municipal
attorney Gary Dovre of the Secrest Wardle
law firm in Farmington Hills. The ordi-
nance, now in effect, makes the sale or
possession of K2 a misdemeanor with
penalties of $500 and/or up to 90 days in
jail.
Spice has been banned in Macomb
County and Shelby Township, and law-
makers at federal, state and county levels,
including Oakland County, are in the pro-
cess of passing similar legislation.
Shaughnessy said she and Rosenberg
initiated the ordinance because "... we
could no longer wait for those legislative
bodies to act while the health, safety and
welfare of our young residents are being
threatened."
State Rep. Lisa Brown (D-39th), a
West Bloomfield parent who has been
working on legislation to ban K2 for the
past two years, said the House Judiciary
Committee is actively seeking ways to
expedite a ban on the drug without a
lengthy governmental process.
Sherman-Marx says she is glad an
ordinance now exists in West Bloomfield,
but she is frustrated with the slow prog-
ress of other legislative bodies.
"Where is Farmington Hills? Where is
Oakland County? Why are they waiting?"
she asked. "I'm just baffled. What is the
motivation, or lack thereof?"
In municipalities where the drug has
not yet been outlawed, assistance may
be available from the Associated Food
Dealers at 1-800-666-6233.
"I know I can't prevent Spice from
being sold over the Internet, but if I can
make a difference at the stores in my
neighborhood, where I shop and where
my kids shop, I'll be happy',' Sherman-
Marx said. 0