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Favorite line: "DEA follows the science," Payne said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-03-02-rw_spice01_ST_N.htm :

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday banned for at least a year the chemicals used to make "K2" and "Spice," popular smokeable herbs that mimic the marijuana high.

The DEA used its emergency power to control five chemicals used to coat the herbs. The DEA placed the chemicals into Schedule 1, the most restrictive category under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Schedule 1 drugs have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.
At least 18 states have banned the chemicals.

"This is bad stuff. It causes a lot of problems," DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said. "It is our duty and our responsibility to act when there is an imminent threat to public health and safety. We believe it rises to these levels at the current time."
Spice and K2 emerged as popular drugs among teens and college students in 2009, Payne said. They are often marketed as legal, fake pot and labeled as herbal incense.

In the notice published in Tuesday's Federal Register, the DEA cited several instances in which people who smoked the the herbal incense became severely ill or had accidents. In September, police in Nebraska said a teenage boy careened his truck into the side of a house and then continued driving, hitting several more things before stopping, the notice said. The boy had "driven past a junior high school and nearly struck a child," the notice said.

The boy admitted smoking "Wicked X," herbal incense coated with synthetic cannabinoids, the DEA said. Toxicology tests found no alcohol or illegal substances in his body.

"Just because something is legal or unregulated doesn't make it safe," Payne said. The emergency ban is effective for at least a year and can be extended for six months. It is illegal to possess or sell these chemicals or products made with them. The DEA had announced in November its intent to control the chemicals.
Federal scientists will study the chemicals, abuse data and their potential for addiction to determine whether they should be permanently controlled. The Department of Health and Human Services will make a final ruling.

"DEA follows the science," Payne said.

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