Man admits to smoking spice during stop

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) - A Santa Fe man was arrested over the weekend after he nearly side-swiped a deputy and admitted to smoking spice.

"She's next to a vehicle who almost side-swipes her she proceeds to get behind the vehicle follows it for a bit notices its unable to maintain its lane," said Lt. William Pacheco with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.

At that point the deputy had seen enough and pulls the car over.

"When she approaches the driver side window she can smell what she believes in marijuana coming from the vehicle," Lt. Pacheco said.

Deputies identified the driver as Luis Lozoya-Moya, 19.

In a lapel camera recording Lozoya-Moya told the DWI Investigator he had not been drinking.

Deputies thought he had been smoking pot based on the smell coming from his car, but that is not what he admitted to.

"Deputies were telling me that you smoke spice," said the DWI Investigator.

Lozoya-Moya can be seen nodding his head in response then says, "ya" going on to say he smoked it about 30 minutes before.

He goes on to tell the deputy he smoked a joints worth of the synthetic marijuana.

The DWI investigator then asks if Lozoya-Moya will perform field sobriety tests.

At first he tells the officer again he is not drunk and then asks if he can take a breath test, so the investigator asks him again and again, finally Lozoya-Moya agrees to do the tests.

The Sheriff's Office said he did not perform well on those tests.

That coupled with the his admission to smoking spice and his poor driving was enough for him to be arrested.

Lt. Pacheco said it's rare that someone admits to smoking spice.

When deputies searched Lozoya-Moya's car they found what they believed to be marijuana, so they are not sure what all was in his system.

They did perform a blood draw with his consent to be sure, but say most likely he will not face charges for the spice.

"They keep changing the components in it and its making it harder for us to find it to be illegal to possess or to manufacture," said Lt. Pacheco.

Since spice mimics the effects of marijuana he will most likely just be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs.