Medical calls for suspected Spice use in Anchorage drop slightly

As officials trying to curb use of the synthetic drug Spice meet in Anchorage this week, the Anchorage Fire Department released new data showing a slight decrease in medical calls suspected to be related to the drug in January.

"This drug is here ... to stay … We've got to learn how to live with it," Anchorage Police Department Sgt. Jack Carson told the crowd of about 100 people on Thursday.

For just over six months -- from July 18 to Jan. 24 -- medical transports for suspected Spice use totaled 11.5 percent of all Anchorage Fire Department runs, according to new data released by the emergency medical service operations assistant chief, Erich Scheunemann. That's 1,215 of 10,495 medical transports.

The city made use and sale of the drug a misdemeanor crime in November (citing more than 50 people for usage and busting two for sale so far), and the state health department conducted a public health study, but conference attendees emphasized there's still more work to be done.

"If you tell me what to do, I will go do it," Mayor Ethan Berkowitz told the audience during a brief speech Thursday morning.

The two-day conference started with an overview of the drug by Sgt. Carson. Spice is called a synthetic cannabinoid because it attaches to the same receptors in the brain as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

It is, however, nothing like marijuana, and the term "synthetic marijuana" has served only to portray the drug as less dangerous than it is, Carson told the crowd.

Spice is difficult to regulate because it is an ever-changing compound. "We're struggling with word games in our statutes," Carson said.

The drug is cheap, widely available online and sometimes sold illicitly at "mom-and-pop shops," according to Carson (one was busted on the Kenai Peninsula in December). Spice is hard to test for, making it appealing for workers who are subject to random drug tests.

Suspected Spice calls are draining resources away from other issues, Carson told the crowd, but they've been declining recently. What caused that? The city's new law? Colder winter weather? It's too early to tell, Carson told the audience.

'Unique and pretty alarming'

New data shows a steady elevation of Spice calls through the end of 2015.

The Anchorage Fire Department started seeing an increase in suspected Spice medical calls in July, and in August they comprised 13 percent of all medical transports. By October the number shot up to nearly a fifth of all cases.

In November and December, the transports dipped, hovering around 10 percent of all calls, according to Scheunemann, before dropping off in January.

So far in 2016, Spice calls have been on the decline. From Jan. 1-24, there were 79 suspected Spice medical transports, just under 6 percent of total calls.

During the second half of the conference open to the public, the Department of Health and Social Services gave an overview of its study, which found Spice to be a contributing factor in four deaths.

Of the patient cases reviewed, 40 percent were homeless, the state says.

It's a "unique and pretty alarming finding," said Yuri Springer, an epidemic intelligence service officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who worked on the study.

Compared to other states that had conducted similar studies, Alaska also had many more types of synthetic cannabinoids -- 11 total, compared to two in Colorado and one in Mississippi, Springer told the crowd.

The conference continues Friday but is closed to the public. Topics will include historical trauma and substance abuse, homeless action plans and work sessions for police.