Sgt. Bruce R. Talbot (Ret)

The late Columbia University sociology professor Robert Merton (1910-2003) is credited with popularizing the law of unintended consequences.[1] Merton’s theory states that almost all human actions have at least one unintended consequence that may make the social situation worse.  Medical marijuana laws are good examples of Merton’s social theory.

In 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for certain medical conditions.[2] The intended outcome was removal of criminal penalties for marijuana use by the “seriously ill” (such as cancer patients suffering from nausea) upon the recommendation of a licensed doctor.  Cancer is a condition that can be tested and documented independently.  However, the proposition also added aliments that can not be independently verified, such as headaches, pain, and “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.”  The proposition gave immunity to doctors for recommending marijuana and specifically stated no written record was required by the doctor or patient.  The legislative analysis of the proposal stated “this measure would probably have no significant state or local fiscal effect.”[3]

The intent of removing the possibility of arrest for seriously ill cancer patients who want to use marijuana had the unintended consequence of de facto marijuana legalization.  Hundreds of marijuana dispensaries suddenly appeared in Los Angeles alone, four in just one block on Santa Monica Boulevard.  The marijuana stores operated outside of city zoning laws and the marijuana was unregulated for purity or potency.  Local television reporters filmed patients selling the marijuana they had just purchased to teenagers right in front of the store.  The amount of money produced was staggering, with one store alone demanding a $400 “donation” for one ounce of high potency marijuana, which generated $45,000 of marijuana income per day.[4] Armed robberies, shooting deaths, burglaries, drug trafficking, illegal indoor marijuana grow operations (with chemical spills, mold, and fires), and funding of street gangs, all were tied to medical marijuana dispensaries.[5]

Another unintended consequence of medical marijuana laws is increased drug use.   After a decade of decreasing marijuana use among adolescents, marijuana abuse jumped 19 percent in 2009.[6] Researchers theorize the recent increase is the result in the change of attitude among adolescents about the inherent risk of harm and decreasing social scorn associated with marijuana use.[7] It becomes increasingly difficult for substance abuse prevention professionals and parents to talk about marijuana’s potential risk of harm when constant claims of the health benefits of marijuana are touted by those seeking other states to approve medical marijuana in the media. In California, local police report increased adolescent use of marijuana is associated with close proximity to medical marijuana dispensaries.[8]

The most surprising unintended consequence of medical marijuana may be the exact opposite of the expected outcome: serious medical illness.  Scientific, peer-reviewed, research studies have shown a link between marijuana use and mental illness.[9] A new research study of over 3,000 sibling pairs tracked during a 21-year period found marijuana use for 6 years or longer produced schizophrenia and other serious delusional disorders at twice the rate of the non-marijuana using sibling.  The marijuana abusing sibling was four times more likely to have experienced psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations and flashbacks than a non-using sibling.[10]

It is rare for someone suffering schizophrenia to act-out violently—unless there is substance abuse.  There is a three-fold increase in violent crimes committed by schizophrenia suffers who are substance abusers compared to non-abusers.[11] So is one of the unintended consequences of medical marijuana laws an increase in crime and violence?

Former Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and current Director of the Columbia University National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Joseph A. Califano, recently drew a connection between the Tucson, Arizona mass shootings by Jared Loughner and his well-documented chronic marijuana use:

“So as we continue to think about this killer and his deranged mind, we should be asking this question:  Is Jared Loughner an individual whose psychosis was prompted or exacerbated by the use of marijuana?[12]

Secretary Califano is not alone in questioning the role of marijuana and mental illness in Jared Loughner. The founder of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Robert L. DuPont, M.D., has weighed-in on the issue:

“The combination of serious mental illness and substance abuse worsens both disorders. This combination plays a major role in the violence that is sometimes associated with schizophrenia. Jared Lee Loughner’s marijuana use was not an incidental part of this tragic story; it was central to the tragedy in Tucson on January 8, 2011.”[13]

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Sergeant Bruce R. Talbot retired from the Woodridge police department after 23 years of service.  He teaches drug/alcohol police training classes for Illinois MTU units and for police agencies across America.  He holds a Masters degree from Roosevelt University and has been qualified as an expert witness in criminal courts in Illinois and Texas.  He has twice been called to testify as an expert witness before two Congressional committees considering drug control legislation.

[2] California Proposition 215 “Compassionate Use Act of 1996” passed November 5, 1996. Two years later Oregon, Washington and Alaska also enacted medical marijuana legislation.

[3] The text of the legislative analysis is available at http://vote96.sos.ca.gov/bp/215analysis.htm

[4] “White Paper on Marijuana Dispensaries” April 22, 2009, Page 7, California Chiefs of Police Association

[5] Ibid page 1-10.

[6] “Key Findings of the 2009 Partnership/MetLife Foundation Attitude Tracking Study” March 2, 2010 Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

[7] Ibid. Adolescents who agreed with the statement “I don’t want to hang around anybody who uses marijuana” dropped from 28 percent to only 24 percent, and 51 percent of adolescents agreed with the statement “being high feels good”, up from 45 percent.

[8] “White Paper on Marijuana Dispensaries” Page 29

[9] “Cannabis Use and Mental Health in Young People: A Cohort Study” British Medical Journal, 2006, vol. 325, Pp. 1195-1198.

[10] “Association Between Cannabis Use and Psychosis-Related Outcomes Using Sibling Pair Analysis in a Cohort of Young Adults” March 1, 2010, Archives of General Psychiatry.

[11] “Schizophrenia, Substance Abuse, and Violent Crime” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009, vol. 301, page 2016.

[12] “Tragedy in Tucson: Did Marijuana Play a Part?” Columbia University, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, January 18, 2011, commentary by Robert A. Califano.

[13] “Marijuana, Schizophrenia, and Jared Loughner” Institute for Behavior and Health, January 20, 2011, commentary by Robert L. DuPont, M.D., and Bertha K. Madras, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School.

Just when everyone thought the Rave Movement was “oh, so 90’s,” Ecstasy is making a big comeback in America, and Illinois is on the dance card.

ISP Master Sergeant Ben Halloran from Task Force 6 reports that his team recently seized 6 ounces of a strange speckled powder (packaged in several separate plastic baggies) during an interdiction detail on I-55 in the Bloomington-Normal area.  The suspects, a 31-year old female school teacher and her 40-year old male companion both from the Denver area, called the substance “Molly Mix” and claimed it contained a mixture of Ecstasy, heroin, and meth.

"Molly Mix" MDMA (ecstasy) seized in Illinois in 2010

“Molly Mix”   Photo courtesy of ISP Master Sgt. Ben Halloran, Task Force 6

The street slang term “Molly” is short-hand for “molecular” and implies the Ecstasy is pure powder MDMA as opposed to pill-form Ecstasy which, at the very least, contains binding agents and artificial coloring.  Like most street drug slang terms, “your mileage may vary.”  For example, the drug “A2 & Molly” does not contain “molecular MDMA” but rather the rip-off drugs BZP (N-benzylpiperazine), and TFMPP (1-(3-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)piperazine).[i]

“Molly Mix” implies pure powder MDMA mixed with one or more other drugs.  The arrestees believed the “mix” was heroin and amphetamine, however, as is often the case, the Illinois State Police lab at Morton found no mix, just MDMA (Ecstasy).  Facing a Class-X charge, the suspects related they were en route to a Chicago rock concert, (presumably to resell the drugs).   Pure MDMA powder sells for $800-$1,500 per ounce. Pressed into pill form with china clay as a filler/binding agent, an ounce can produce 280 pills selling individually for $10 per pill.  A 6-ounce supply of pure powder could produce 1,680 pills retailing for over $16,000.  The raw material cost to produce 6 ounces would be about $500.

The “Club Drug” movement, led by Ecstasy, seemed to peak in 1999 and then began to fade away.  At that time, Belgium was the center of Ecstasy production with European police seizing 5 million pills and busting up the Russian and Israeli crime syndicates responsible for most of the smuggling into the U.S.  It was estimated that 95 percent of Ecstasy coming into the US back in 1999 was produced in European clandestine laboratories. The disruption in established manufacturing and distribution networks combined with a flurry of high profile media reports (including Oprah) of Ecstasy-caused brain damage seemed to drive a multi-pronged wooden stake into the heart of Ecstasy.[ii]

Then, beginning in 2004, Asian gangs began to set up Ecstasy super labs in Canada because 1) the key chemical used to produce ecstasy, (3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone) and other precursors such as sodium borohydride, iodine crystals, and methylamine HCL are not controlled in Canada, and 2) Canada’s limited drug enforcement resources and proximity to the U.S. drug market. As the new super labs ramped up production, Ecstasy seizures increased 186 percent (1.92 million pills in 2004 vs. 5.5 million pills in 2005). By 2007, Canada had become the top source country for Ecstasy production.  In 2008, 18 Ecstasy super labs were discovered by Canadian police representing a combined estimated output of 2 billion Ecstasy pills per year!  The 2009 U.S. Drug Treat Assessment reported that more than 18 million Ecstasy pills had been seized in the last year coming across the boarder with Canada.[iii]   On February 19, 2010 U.S. Customs agents discovered 77,856 pills representing 47 pounds of Ecstasy, valued at $1.5 million, at the Canadian/Lewiston Bridge, New York, crossing during a random vehicle search.[iv]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a clinical trial of Ecstasy as a possible medicine to relive post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.  The Phase II results of the study were released in 2010 showing 83.3 percent of patients reported greatly reduced unwanted symptoms of stress.  The researchers have received further FDA permission to continue the clinic trials with possible future approval of Ecstasy as a prescription medicine.[v]  As we have seen with so called “medical marijuana,” medical approval of Ecstasy will erase the brain damage media reports of the 1990s and possibly encourage increased recreational abuse. 

Ecstasy is back on the dance floor and busting a move!

[ii] Video clip of the Oprah show featuring Lynn Smith’s Ecstasy brain damage is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v+w_-CI1Py-Gg

[iii] National Seizure System data as of December 1, 2009

[iv] “CBP Officers in Buffalo Seize $1.5 Million in Ecstasy, Arrest Canadian Smuggler” U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security press release, February 22, 2010

[v]  “FDA approves Ecstasy: New treatment for Iraq war veterans with resistant PTSD – Encouraging results” Taylor Trendwood, The Denver Examiner, August 9, 2010

Sergeant Bruce R. Talbot retired from the Woodridge Police Department after 23 years of service.  He teaches drug/alcohol police training classes for Illinois MTU units and for police agencies across America.  He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Roosevelt University and has been qualified as an expert witness in criminal courts in Illinois and Texas.  He has been called to testify as an expert witness before two Congressional committees considering drug control legislation.  He can be reached at BruceRTalbot@aol.com

"Purple Kush" High potency marijuana. Photo credit Kerouachomsky.

Super pot is defined as cannabis that has a higher than average delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.  Kirk noted that suburban Chicago police are increasingly arresting dealers selling marijuana with THC contents in the 20 percent range for street prices that rival cocaine, but with a much lower risk of jail-time.¹

The potency of street-grade marijuana has been steadily increasing from an average of 2.8 percent THC in 1985 to 10.1 percent THC in 2008—the highest level ever recorded since tracking began.² In the Midwest, the average THC content of street-grade marijuana seized by police in 2008 was 8.12 percent.³

Super pot is being defined as marijuana with a THC content of over 15 percent. The University of Mississippi, under a research contract from the federal government, has reported super pot samples with up to 37.2 percent THC. During the 1^st quarter of 2009, the researchers reported the THC content of super pot seized during the period was 27.3 percent.⁴Super pot is causing a sharp increase in emergency room hospitalizations (e.g. panic attacks and heart palpitations) with a 164 percent increase in hospital admissions.⁵

Marijuana growers are able to increase the potency of marijuana by using special varieties of cannabis (Sinsemilla, known for increased THC potency) and forced growing techniques (e.g. hydroponically hyper-fertilization and long-cycle indoor grow lights).  These indoor marijuana growing operations have increased as the profits from super pot have increased.  In 2008 alone, 66 indoor marijuana grow operations were seized by Illinois police.⁶

In addition to high potency marijuana, other forms of super pot are appearing on the street.  A rare, yet very potent form of marijuana appeared in the southwest suburbs of Chicago in 2007 known as “Budder”.  The substance has a golden/amber color and gooey consistency and is being produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Unlike marijuana which is the delta-9 form of THC, “Budder” is the delta-6 isomer and is reportedly 80 to 95 percent THC content.  The effective dose is a drop the size of the head of a safety pin top, smoked like hash oil.⁷

In 2008, a public high school located on Chicago’s north shore reported the first Illinois school drug overdose involving “Spice®”.  The student related the drug was purchased over the Internet and smoked just before the start of school.  The student experienced a marijuana-like high which developed into a severe anxiety/panic attack.  Local police were unfamiliar with the substance which claimed on the package to be herbal extracts of Blue Lotus flowers, Bay Bean, Dwarf Skullcap, Lion’s Tail, and others—all legal.  Chemical analysis found the substance to contain several forms of synthetic THC compounds including HU-210, HU-211, CP 47, CP 497, JWH-018, and JWH-073.  These synthetic compounds all have a marijuana-like intoxicating effect as they are structurally and pharmacologically similar to delta-9 THC.

Of the synthetic compounds found in Spice, only HU-210 is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.  HU-210 is reported to be 100-800 times more potent than THC.⁸Clemson University chemistry professor John Hoffman was quoted recently as saying the compounds in Spice are very easy to make out of readily available raw materials in a simple two-step process. “A good chemistry undergraduate could do it,” said Huffman.⁹

In addition to Spice, other products containing these super pot synthetic compounds have been sized by police including “Vucatan Fire”, “Skunk”, Sence”, “Genie”, as well as “Spice Gold”, Spice Silver”, and “Spice Diamond”.  These products will not test positive using standard police marijuana field reagent test kits.¹⁰

Congressman Mark Kirk introduced legislation on June 12, 2009 to amend the federal controlled substances act to include up to 25 years in prison for the trafficking of any product that contains over 15 percent THC.¹¹

1. “Rep Kirk wants tougher penalties for super pot” Daily Herald newspaper, June 16, 2009
2. “Marijuana potency surpasses 10 percent, US says” CNN, May 14, 2009
3. “Quarterly Report: Potency Monitoring Project” National Institute on Drug Abuse,  March 15, 2009
4. Ibid, page 6
5. 45,259 hospital admissions in 1995 vs. 215,665 in 2005. “National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits” The DAWN Report, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2006.
6. “Domestic Cannabis Cultivation Assessment 2009” National Drug Intelligence Center, July 2009
7. http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_chemistry2.shtml
8. “Year 2008 Annual Report: National Forensic Laboratory Information System” US DEA,  Page 5, July 2009
9. “The story of Spice” The Financial Times of London, Feb. 13, 2009
10. “Microgram Bulletin” US DEA Office of Forensic Science, Page 23-24, March 2009.
11. H.R. 2848, “High Potency Marijuana Sentencing Act of 2009” currently referred to the House Committee of the Judiciary.  The text of the bill is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr2848IH/pdf/BILLS-111hr2848IH.pdf

Illicit OxyContin

For example, during a traffic stop on I-80 a police officer discovered $370,000 in cash and a large number of round, green pills marked “OC” on one side and “80” on the reverse side. ¹  The head stamps and color are consistent with the Perdue Pharma prescription narcotic drug OxyContin®, one of the most sought after narcotic drugs.  However, the crime laboratory did not detect any oxycodone, the active ingredient in OxyContin.   Analysis by GC/MS discovered the presence of bootleg fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic  that can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin.

One way to potentially spot mimic or fake prescription drugs is to cut into one representative pill.  Real OxyContin pills are color coded on the outside of the pills but are white on the inside— counterfeit pills are generally colored throughout the entire pill as it is difficult for underground labs to color coat just the outside of mimic pills.²

Not all fentanyl analogs are currently scheduled controlled substances. Crime laboratories may have difficulty identifying which one of the dozen analogs that have recently appeared as street drugs is contained in the seized pills.  In America, nine clandestine labs have been discovered producing illicit fentanyl.³

In addition to prescription narcotic mimics, depressants such as methaqualone (AKA: Quaaludes or Ludes) and Klonopin® (AKA: Pins) have been discovered by police.  The Northern Illinois Crime Lab in Highland Park has reported mimic Quaalude pills. The round, white pills stamped “LEMMON 714” were found to contain common Valium rather than the banned methaqualone.⁴  Police officers are advised that “LEMMON 714” stamped pills are all fake as legitimate methaqualone has not been produced since 1983.

Mimics of Klonopin may be legitimate clonazepam produced in Mexico and purchased over the internet as “Rivotril” or “Ravotril.”   Mimic pills have been found made from a light yellow crystalline powder and sold as “Roofies.”

In the case of mimic, fake or counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, final criminal charges may not be possible until a confirmation lab report determine of the actual substance is a scheduled drug.   Check with the State’s Attorney to determine if charging is appropriate under the controlled substances statute, the analog law, or the look-a-like law.

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1. Microgram Bulletin, US Drug Enforcement Administration, January, 2006. Drug report based on a submission from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department laboratory.  This was the first of several fentanyl containing Oxy Contin mimic pills.
2. Ibid.
3. http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/srs/20469/index/htm
4. Microgram Bulletin, US Drug Enforcement Administration, January 2007,