VALPARAISO | Every few minutes, a different customer approached the counter Monday afternoon at the small Clark gas station on Calumet Avenue asking to buy Black Magic or other varieties of herbal incense touted for its ability to provide a legal high.
There was plenty of the product and glass smoking pipes available just under the counter and hidden behind a Spider-Man beach towel, but store manager Mike Awda turned away each customer who showed up during a surprise visit by Sharon Cawood, director of the Porter County Substance Abuse Council.
Awda told Cawood he stopped selling the product just the day before in response to complaints.
Monday's steady flow of customers for the product was apparently nothing new. Awda said he had been selling 1,500 one-gram packages each week at a price of either $10 or $20 depending on the strength.
"It's nice money," he said.
The pipes and incense at the county were replaced with white T-shirts after Cawood's visit.
The Clark station is not alone in taking advantage of the lucrative business opportunity, said Awda, who named a number of other retailers around the county. The Times found the product for sale at the nearby BP Food Mart and the Cigarette Discount Outlet store.
The products go by a variety of names, including Mr. Smiley, Gonjah, Black Mamba, Warlock, K2, Proze Smoke and P.E.P. Pourri. The packet for the Sativah brand at the Cigarette Discount Outlet carries the message, "A potent blend of herbs to expand the consciousness."
Made in China, the products are a mix of herbs and spices sprayed with a synthetic compound similar to THC, the active chemical in marijuana.
Awda said while the products are legal and packaged as incense, he is aware some people are using it in an attempt to get high.
"It's not our fault if people are smoking it," he said.
Awda said he has never sold it to anyone younger than 18.
Valparaiso police spokesman Sgt. Mike Grennes said while not witnessing exactly what was being sold Monday, products along those lines are legal.
Cawood, who visited the Clark and BP stations Monday in response to concerns from two parents, said she was surprised by the near steady flow of customers for the herbal products.
She said she considers this type of product a gateway to illegal drugs and a way to avoid detection from drug tests, which is part of the reason she has joined a push to make it illegal in Indiana or at least at the local level.
The products are illegal throughout most of Europe. Kansas last month became the first state to outlaw the active chemicals in the products, and Illinois and Missouri lawmakers are considering bans.
Cawood said she has already placed calls for help with state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, and state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.
Awda said he realizes the clock is ticking.
"They're going to stop it soon," he said. "We know that."
Legal implications
Although the herbal incense -- marketed under a variety of names, including K2, Mr. Smiley and Mr. Dutchy -- is legal in Indiana, police note that if a person ingests it and becomes intoxicated in public, he or she could be arrested on a public intoxication charge. In addition, some jurisdictions outside Porter County are looking into cracking down on it under an Indiana law that outlaws substances that are substantially similar to a controlled substance.
Police are alerting parents about the substance so they can keep an eye out for it. Parents can find out more information about it on the Internet, police said.
Porter County Drug Task Force Supervisor Jeff Biggs said he first heard of the substance about a month ago during a meeting of police officers and juvenile probation officers. The probation officers reported they had begun to see the substance. - By Ken Kosky, The Times
