"Potpourri" easy to find, very illegal

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The feds and local cops have been trying to wipe out synthetic marijuana, a dangerous drug that a lot of young people buy. It also seems to make people a little crazy and just because it's illegal doesn't mean stores stop selling it.

A tip led KRQE News 13 undercover, looking for the synthetic drug and it was not hard to find it.

KRQE went undercover at a West Side smoke shop that was doing big business with potpourri; just another version of synthetic marijuana.

The clerk produced a tray of what looked like tiny pill bottles and packages labeled potpourri going for ten to fifteen bucks a pop.

Keith Brown with the DEA knows about potpourri, and he says it’s pretty much just like spice,.

“The chemist tries to stay one step ahead of the law,” Brown said.

He says they tweak the formula of spice just a tiny bit so they think they can get past the law banning the substance.

“This stuff is dangerous,” said Brown.

Brown says this is just the same as spice.

“So, if it's chemically similar and they are selling it the same way there were selling the other stuff than it makes it just as illegal,” Brown said.

Just last month, DEA agents raiding local smoke shops looking for spice and bath salts.

Brown says for every shop they raid another starts moving the product.

“It's about making money, this is not about anything else but making money,” he said.

The DEA says it's planning more raids on more smoke shops. Even though chemists may be planning their next variation, the feds hope local shops get the message that any form of this drug is just not worth the risk.

Not only is it illegal to sell the drugs but the feds have said they will go after people who buy spice or similar products.