Several Indiana deaths suspected to be linked to the use of Spice may have no connection to the substance after all, but coroners say in some cases, it’s hard to be sure.
“This [substance] is still a mystery to us,” said Alfarena Ballew, chief deputy coroner in Marion County.
The substance, which is commonly called K-2, is a mixture of herbs and spices that’s sprayed with a chemical compound similar to the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It’s marketed as an incense, but people are smoking it for a high.
Ballew said the substance doesn’t show up in traditional drug tests, which is why many people are smoking it. The fact that it doesn’t show up in these tests, however, is why it’s so difficult for coroners to link the substance to a death or rule it out in a death, she said.
The coroner has heard that the only way the substance can be detected in the system is by examining brain tissue.
“And we’re not even sure of that yet,” Ballew said.
There’s just not enough information available on the substance to know too much about it, she said.
“That’s part of the mystery of this,” Ballew said.
She suspects it will take years of research to know for sure what the effects of Spice are and how to detect the substance in someone’s system.
For now, Ballew thinks the only real way to rule out Spice as a cause of death is to definitively determine that something else caused the person to die.
That’s what happened in one Marion County death that was suspected to be linked to Spice.
Ballew said there have been two deaths within the county that people linked to the substance.
“One of those cases was not linked to Spice. It was caused by an overdose of another drug,” Ballew said.
The other death is still being investigated, so the coroner is not sure if Spice played a hand in it yet.
As for the Middlebury woman whose family said she died after smoking Spice, the Madison County Coroner said that is not the case. Coroner Nathan Dunnichay said Spice was not the cause of death in this woman’s case.
Regardless of whether or not Spice contributed to any of these deaths, cities, counties and states across the nation — including Logansport and Cass County — are stepping up to place bans on the sale and/or possession of the substance. Others are simply voicing their disapproval of Spice.
The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers recently voiced its concern over the unregulated product. According to a press release, the organization has voted to support legislation to ban Spice in the state. In addition, the IABR is encouraging all Indiana companies to discontinue the sale of the substance.
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