Synthetic marijuana attracts unwanted attention to professor who invented it

COLUMBIA -- Clemson University chemistry professor John Huffman was amused the first time someone called to talk about people smoking one of his lab projects to get high.

It's not so funny anymore.

As the use of K2, Spice and other drugs that are considered "fake weed" spreads across the country, Huffman is fielding more calls from police agencies, media and even from people who want instructions on how to make it.

"Quite frankly, it's become sort of a pain," he said.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said problems with the substance have not cropped up in the county.

Legal in South Carolina, they are sold as incense under the names K2 and Spice.

Huffman, who has taught at Clemson since 1960, said he never intended for anyone to smoke his research projects.

Huffman and his students create compounds -- known as synthetic cannabinoids -- that mimic the effects of marijuana. The creations, he said, are used by other scientists in the pharmaceutical research industry.

However, some of Huffman's lab products have evolved into recreational drugs that became popular in Europe several years ago. Now, those substances are spreading across the United States, including parts of South Carolina.

The products come in small, plastic bags and look like a blend of leafy green spices from your kitchen cabinet.

Huffman started developing the fake cannabinoids about 20 years ago. People in the pharmaceutical industry wanted to learn more about two proteins in the human body that react with THC, the potent, active ingredient in marijuana. Huffman decided to create substances that mimic THC to sell to the pharmaceutical industry.

Huffman said he sells most of his compounds to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Staff writer Cassie Foss contributed to this report.