Art Culver, Grand Forks, letter: Make synthetic drugs illegal in states and region

GRAND FORKS — Many stories about designer drugs have appeared in our news media recently.

Well … we need even more stories than that.

These legal (in many places) drugs with names such as “Spice,” “K2” and “Pure Evil” are marketed as “potpourri.”

Adults! Put yourselves in the shoes of these children and think, “Potpourri … bath salts … sold in stores, how harmful can they be? They’re legal, and I do not have to be 18 to buy them.

“And geez, if I can buy it, it can’t be all that bad”

But the recent deaths of two teenagers prove it is bad.

I am a paramedic. While we as an ambulance service deal routinely with death, deaths are not routine. Remember, there are end-of-life deaths and premature deaths.

Teen deaths are horrific for everyone involved, including family, friends and the first responders who try everything possible to help and feel helpless when the young people do not respond to our resuscitative efforts.

There was a lot of community outrage and media coverage when the “Fantasy’s” store tried to open in Grand Forks.

I’m neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the store’s and the City Council’s decisions, but I do feel strongly about the how few people are speaking up about the legality of these synthetic drugs right here in our community.

Mom, Dad, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, friends and neighbors, please be vocal and let everyone know that the selling of these items is unacceptable.

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and especially friends, be vigilant and stop or seek help when in doubt about potential abuse.

Abuse and deaths are taking a toll not only on countless others but also on me.

Art Culver

Culver, a paramedic, is manager of ambulance services for Altru Health System.

Tags: in the mail, synthetic drugs, law enforcement, opinion, health, updates