It's legal and can give users a sense of euphoria, but smoking the incense known as spice or K2 also can cause hallucinations, a rapid heart rate and in some cases result in seizures.
The sudden popularity of spice has a growing number of Indiana physicians concerned about its illicit use.
A resolution supporting a statewide ban on the sale and use of spice will be among 66 resolutions considered by the Indiana State Medical Association when the physician organization holds its 161st annual convention in Indianapolis on Sept. 24-26.
"Right now there are no regulations (on spice) whatsoever," said Dr. Dick Huber, a retired physician from Johnson County, who proposed the ban. "Nobody knows what's in it. Nobody is looking at it. Nobody controls it."
Spice is a mixture of common herbs sprayed with synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of marijuana, said Dr. Jim Mowry, director of the Indiana Poison Center. But along with the "pleasurable effects," Mowry said ingesting spice can lead to adverse reactions.
"The most common things are people will get a fast heart rate, they get very agitated and irritable, they can act a little bit psychotic," Mowry said. "We've had five cases (in Indiana) where people have passed out and four cases where people have actually experienced seizures."
Mowry said there has been one unconfirmed case of death linked to smoking spice.
Huber said he first learned about spice this spring while giving a drug awareness presentation at a school.
"People were really raving about the stuff," Huber said. "They were saying 'This is the best stuff I've ever smoked,' so it was clear at that time this was not really incense. They were calling it synthetic marijuana."
Indiana leads the nation in the number of spice cases, followed by Georgia and Utah, Mowry said.
Calls for help
He said the Indiana Poison Center has received 95 calls related to spice since February, including six calls from Vanderburgh County and one from Gibson County. The majority were from hospitals and health care facilities after victims sought medical help.
"Obviously, if people are smoking (spice) and they think they are going to get a nice little gentle buzz and all of a sudden they've got high blood pressure and some of them (are) seizing, it's something that's pretty disconcerting," Mowry said.
He said since spice is an unregulated substance, some batches may be stronger than others.
Huber's resolution seeks to ban "the sale and use of herbal products known as synthetic marijuana and spice" in Indiana. If the measure is adopted by the medical association, Huber will take the resolution before the American Medical Association. His goal is to get similar restrictions imposed by the Federal Drug Administration, making it illegal to use spice in the United States.
Indiana State Medical Association officials said Allen, Boone, Henry and Morgan counties in Indiana recently banned spice, as have 13 states, including Kentucky. The product, which goes by other names such as Pep and Kind, also is banned in Britain, France, Germany and Poland.
Dr. William Penland, assistant treasurer of the Indiana medical association and a past president of the Vanderburgh County Medical Society, said all resolutions will be reviewed in a reference committee before being put before delegates for a vote.
Penland, an Evansville ophthalmologist who chairs one of the four reference committees, said he had never heard of spice before reading the resolution but he supports the proposed ban.
"It's certainly something we should look into," Penland said.
Among the other resolutions to be considered by the Indiana medical association is one calling for smoke-free work environments statewide, including a ban on smoking in all restaurants, bars and casinos.