When neighborhood users of SPICE, a synthetic marijuana with side effects including seizures and disorientation, began walking into traffic and collapsing on church and school grounds, leaders from St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church stepped into the void to identify solutions. Church leaders, in collaboration with Southern Arizona Interfaith, soon launched a campaign to "Give them Food" in addition to collaborating with local law enforcement and county health department to educate the community about the drug and prevent its sale. Over 250 area residents attended one of the community meetings.

In fall 2016, SAI and Pima County Interfaith hosted a nonpartisan accountability session drawing more than 500 leaders to address several issues, including SPICE. In front of hundreds of voters, candidates promised to introduce a bill to criminalize SPICE ingredients and to help law enforcement press charges against dealers.

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250 leaders of Southern Arizona Interfaith assembled at St. John the Evangelist Catholic with the Tucson Police Department, Monsignor Raul Trevizo, Representative Macario Saldate, the Deputy County Attorney, and a representative of the US Dept. of Justice for a civic academy on 'spice.'

The synthetic drug is considered to induce young users to roam neighborhoods in an unnaturally hungry and thirsty state; officers responded to 930 calls involving spice over the previous 18 months, many involving overdoses.

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