The new street drug Spice or K2 is increasingly causing a stir. Spice users seek an undetectable marijuana-like high and the product may be delivering. In 2010, it was officially banned in Ireland, Missouri and Kansas are actively seeking to outlaw the herbal substance, and the Feds have taken an interest.

Spice can be purchased in stores in the U.S., Japan, Europe and other countries sold as various brands of a smoked product, such as K2. It contains a mix of chemicals on loose, generic plant material. Synthetic cannabinoids are the common ingredient.

The most prevalent is JWH-018, a new synthetic cannabinoid created by scientists to test receptor function in the lab. Here’s how it works:

• Cannabinoids binding with the CB1 receptor produces the euphoric effect or high in humans.

• JWH-018 binds with CB1 receptors at a rate four times greater than THC (natural or synthetic).

• The common marijuana drug tests are calibrated to detect THC and THC metabolites, not the synthetics used in Spice or K2.

NORML’s deputy director and an expert in drug testing Paul Armentano says Spice or K2 users would pass a drug test.

The Missouri and Kansas efforts to outlaw K2 in some cases lump it in with Salvia, causing confusion about the two separate drugs. Federal authorities are enforcing a new crackdown on shipments of the cannabinoids and the K2 type products, such as two recent seizures of K2 and JWH-018 at the Philadelphia Airport UPS shipping facility.

Renowned cannabinoid scientist Jahan Marcu conducts research at Temple University and is on the Medical Advisory Board for Americans for Safe Access.

"A brave group of scientists in Germany in December 2008 went out and purchased Spice," Marcu reports. "They smoked it and then proceeded to do blood and urine samples on themselves. In the two scientists who had taken the drug they were able to measure several things: They got red-eyes, increase in pulse rate and cottonmouth. And there was an alteration of mood and perception. They took a relatively low dose in a cigarette: About .3 grams of Spice Diamond,  a variety of Spice. They were able to detect it in their blood. Some of this begs the question: Are these therapeutically useful?”

But the amount of chemicals, minerals, herbs and substances that are combined to create Spice are inconsistent, Marcu says. "In Japan they surveyed over 40 herbal preparations on the market and JWH-018 ranged from 2.0 to over 35 milligrams in a gram of this Spice substance. So it varies widely.”

The Spice/K2 phenomenon could have implications for the marijuana policy issue. Though new drug tests might be able to detect JWH-018, it's just one of hundreds of synthetic cannabinoids according to Armentano and Marcu.

This may up the ante significantly in a war that pits the government against people who want to be able to activate their cannabinoid receptor system whenever they choose.

Although long-term safety of these products is still a big question, Spice and K2 don't seem to be going away. As they are prohibited, they'll simply move underground, sadly right alongside natural cannabis.

Chris Goldstein is media coordinator for Philly NORML

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