The fight against synthetic marijuana use was granted a helping hand this weekend, as both State Health Officer Dr. Donald Williamson and Gov. Robert Bentley took steps to remove the products, sold as incense, from convenience store and tobacco shop shelves.

On Friday, Williamson issued an emergency declaration that the synthetic marijuana products sold as incense in brands such as Spice, K2, Cloud Nine and others are now controlled substances and are a public health nuisance.

The same day, Bentley ordered an executive order for the Alabama Beverage Control board, sheriff’s departments and the Department of Public Safety to seize these products from Alabama storefronts.

“It’s my understanding that the Alabama Beverage Control has already seized about $3.9 million worth of the substance,” said Richard Minor, district attorney for St. Clair County.

Previously, four chemicals found in similar herbal incense mixtures were added as Schedule I drugs effective July 1, 2010. However, formulations are often changed in minor ways to skirt specific laws.

This law, however, provides a broader base for enforcement.

“My understanding is that there is a catch-all provision, if it attaches to the receptors in the brain as a cannabinoid, then it falls under that catch-all provision,” Minor said.

Based on emergency public hearings held in Montgomery, Williamson added synthetic marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which denotes that the drug has a high potential for abuse, and has no accepted medical use in the United States.

The scheduling will go into effect Oct. 24, which will allow law enforcement officials to treat the substance like any other drug on the market.

“It will be the same class as crack cocaine, cocaine or meth. It’ll be a schedule one drug, with the same class felony, the same cost, and the same jail time,” said Cpl. Richard Woods, narcotics officer for the Pell City Police Department.

Minor said the substance has become more prevalent in St. Clair County’s juvenile drug court, to the point where they started testing for it during drug tests. Woods said the police department has routinely purchased it from local gas stations, as well.

As the number of users of the drug has increased across the state and country in recent months, the number of hospitalizations related to the drug have also increased.

In the past year, the Regional Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Alabama has reported 101 calls from people exposed to K2 or Spice. A total of 35 of those calls were regarding teenagers, 32 were patients in their 20s, and three were between ages 6 and 12.

While the high from synthetic marijuana lasts only 15 to 20 minutes, the drug can induce anxiety attacks, seizures, hallucinations, nausea and vomiting, increased heart rate and rapid pulse, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, aggression, uncontrollable rage, agitation, addiction and severe depression. The drug can also cause chronic side effects that may last for weeks.

With its classification as a Schedule I drug, officials are hoping that the use of synthetic marijuana will be dealt a serious blow in local communities.

“I think we’ll see a lot of our younger kids quit messing with it, because it’s actually going to be a felony now,” Woods said. “I think we’ll see a lot of it go away because of the penalty.”