DEA bans "fake pot" incense as youths using it to get high - The Denver Post

DEA bans "fake pot" incense as youths using it to get high - The Denver Post

The Drug Enforcement Administration moved Wednesday to halt sales of "herbal incense" products said to create a marijuana-like high when smoked.

In a notice published in the Federal Register, the DEA said it was creating an emergency — but temporary — prohibition against the possession or sale of the products or any one of five chemicals used to make the products while regulators take a closer look at them.

For the next year, the DEA said, the products will be considered Schedule I controlled substances, the same strict level of control currently used for marijuana.

Selling the products, sometimes referred to as "fake pot," could bring criminal charges and prison time.

Officials said the products are being used by a growing number of teens and young adults as an end-run around prohibitions against marijuana.

"The American public looks to the DEA to protect its children and communities from those who would exploit them for their own gain," DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart said in a statement. "Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that 'fake pot' is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case."

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