A drug known as “spice” may have been a factor in the vicious Sunday attack of a woman who remains in critical condition, said Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson.
    Amber Fields, 20, of Swainsboro, suffered broken facial bones, a fractured skull, shattered nose and other complications after reportedly being beaten in the head and face by 23-year-old Thomas Jason Browning at his Brannen Road home.
    Bulloch County 911 received a call from Browning around 12:54 a.m. Sunday alerting them to the situation at Browning’s residence, Anderson said. "Browning stated that he and his girlfriend, Amber Fields, had ingested some sort of drug and were having a reaction to the drug.”
    But when Bulloch County Sheriff’s deputies and Bulloch County EMS technicians arrived at the scene, they were met with a gruesome scene.
    Responders “observed Browning with blood on his person” and “observed a large amount of blood in the common area of the residence,” he said. “Fields was located unresponsive on the floor with obvious trauma to her head.”
    EMS took both Fields and Browning to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, but Fields’ injuries were so severe, she was airlifted to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, where, according to her mother, Paula Fields, she underwent several surgeries to repair an aneurysm in her chest, facial reconstruction and other procedures.
    Deputies secured the home, and “Examination of the scene … by a Bulloch County crime scene investigator indicated that a violent assault upon the person of Amber Fields had taken place inside the residence,” Anderson said.
    After questioning Browning further, investigators determined the drug Browning said he and Fields had bad reactions to was a synthetic cannabinoid known as “spice.”
    Packets of the drug, which are readily available in tobacco and smoking stores, were found in Browning’s home, he said. The packets are marketed as “natural aromatic incense or potpourri,” but investigators found through research that the substance is used as a drug.
    Bulloch County Drug Suppression Team Capt. Rick Rountree said the “synthetic marijuana” has been increasingly popular in the United States since 2008, and there are some varieties that contain an illegal Schedule I controlled substance.
    Tests are being conducted on the samples found in Browning’s home, which were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations crime lab in Savannah, he said.
    While most of the “spice” varieties can be purchased legally, some varieties containing certain chemicals were ruled illegal in May, he said.
    Although legal in most cases, the drug has been reported to have some serious and potentially deadly side effects.
    Anderson said “smoking these products has been documented to produce paranoid reactions to users. These products are sold at several stores in the Statesboro area.”
    Bulloch County Sheriff’s Inv. Jared Akins said he and other investigators have heard of spice, but “This is our first real experience in working a case involving it.”
    He said Browning has no prior record and has had no dealings with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office.
    According to Internet website http://melissamcclain.hubpages.com ,  spice produces a marijuana-like high but also has many negative side effects pot does not.
    These include anxiety attacks, hallucinations, nausea and a chemical dependency. Recently, three Roswell teens were hospitalized after smoking spice, and one had swelling of the brain, according to the website.
     According to another website, http://www.livescience.com, the synthetic cannabinoid was first created in the mid-1990s in the lab of organic chemist John W. Huffman of Clemson University, who studies cannabinoid receptors.
    In reports, Huffman said smoking spice is “like playing Russian roulette. You don't know what it's going to do to you. You're a potential winner of a Darwin award," referring to an unofficial “award” given to people who have committed senseless and less-than-intelligent acts.
    While investigators continue working on the case, Browning remains in the Bulloch County Jail without bond, charged with aggravated assault with intent to murder and aggravated battery.
    Fields remains in intensive care in Savannah.
    Anderson asked citizens with information about the crime to call Inv. Walter Deal at (912) 764-8888.

    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.