PORTLAND -- A popular new over-the-counter drug has emergency doctors seeing more teens with symptoms of seizures and agitation.
Synthetic marijuana, known as "Spice" or "K2" advertises itself as a legal alternative to marijuana that is not detected on drug tests. it's selling fast and is legal in Oregon and Washington.
It's that kind of pitch that has sold "Spice" smoker, Alex. He asked that KGW not reveal his last name.
"It's a mental euphoria, " said Alex. "In about 2 minutes, you get to feel the effects and you have a smile on your face."
KGW went undercover to find out how popular "Spice" can be, at five random smoke shops. The store, Smoke Signals, sells all different kinds of synthetic marijuana but there is one brand, "Spice Diamond," that is so popular, it's hard to keep in stock.
"It's been selling pretty good lately, " said Linda, the store manager.
So what's in it? It's a good question. The key ingredient is a chemical called JWH 018 that when smoked, gives users a similar buzz to pot. But the other ingredients are a mystery. In fact, on the bottle, it reads, "not for human consumption."
So what are the health risks?
"You don't want to be smoking this stuff, " said Pete Schulberg, with the Oregon Partnership.
"What people are getting high on has nothing do with the herb. It's the chemical that is sprayed on the herb. It makes it very dangerous."
A bulletin recently went out to emergency room doctors, who noticed more and more teenagers exhibiting strange symptoms that could be connected to synthetic marijuana.
"They were agitated, they had high blood pressure, two or three of them had seizures and they got sick, " said Dr. Zane Horowitz, executive director of the Oregon Poison Center.
He said it's more like methamphetamine than marijuana.
"People who are used to getting sedated and sleep are actually ramped up and agitated, " said Dr. Horowitz.
But that isn't part of the sales pitch at smoke shops.
During the KGW investigation, the second shop visited didn't sell "Spice," but they did just around the corner. At the third stop, they not only sold it, but they were smoking it right there inside the store. They offered us a free sample.
The debate over the drugs is heating up nationwide. "Spice" is illegal in two states, and six others are considering it.
"Our government leaders should say this is a public safety hazard, " said Schulberg.
So far, no deaths have been linked to synthetic marijuana, but that has a lot to do with toxicology tests failing to recognize the drug properties.
