Thursday, January 21, 2010
The possession and sale of an herbal mixture commonly referred to as K2 could become illegal in Kansas if bills circulating in the state legislature pass.
K2 is a name for a mixture of plant materials with added synthetic chemicals. When smoked, these chemicals produce a high similar to that of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, said Sgt. Steve Lewis of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
“If people are acting and misbehaving at the same level as someone intoxicated by alcohol or high on drugs, in my way of thinking, it’s not a good thing,” he said.
House Bill 2411, sponsored by Robert Olson, R-Olathe, and Senate Bill 348 would make the synthetic cannabinoids JWH 018 and JWH 073 found in K2 illegal. The mixture goes by different names in other parts of the state and country. At The Sacred Journey, 1103 Massachusetts St., it’s sold as The Third Eye and Ramblin Rose. The store sells the substance as an incense.
The House took no action on H.B. 2411 Tuesday, after hearing testimony from users and sellers of the substance. A Senate committee recommended approval of S.B. 348 last week after law enforcement officials voiced concern about the herbal mixture and its possible harmful effects. The full state Senate is expected to consider the bill Thursday.
Although lawmakers are concerned about harmful effects, few studies exist to validate or negate those concerns.
“Because these drugs bind better to the receptors in the brain than THC, there is a higher chance for long-term effects,” said Jeremy Morris, senior forensic scientist with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
He said that studies hadn’t confirmed the long-term effects but that short-term effects include dependency.
“Does this stuff need to be looked at a little closer? Sure,” Morris said. “But it needs to be taken out of the hands of the public.”
The use of K2 has resulted in hospitalizations in Maine, Florida, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas, Morris said. But if the bill passes, Kansas will be the first state to make these chemicals illegal.
Matthew Rader, an employee of The Sacred Journey, said several different people had purchased the product, ranging in ages from 18 to about 75. The store doesn’t sell the product to anyone under 18, he said.
Rader said he didn’t know of any health problems associated with use of the product.
“There’s not enough research,” he said. “We see people regularly with no sign of harmful effects.”
Rader said that he and other employees were open to the idea of taxation and regulation but that he thought making these chemicals illegal would not necessarily stop anyone from using the product.
“More harmful drugs like tobacco and alcohol are already flooding schools,” he said. “Outlawing instead of regulating will hurt more than help, and kids will get a hold of drugs anyway.”
Morgan Monsees, a junior from Overland Park, said she had smoked K2 and described it as a relaxant. Monsees said she didn’t know why lawmakers want to ban it.
“It is just another substance control issue,” she said, “If it has not caused problems, then why make it illegal?”
Rader said that The Sacred Journey and other stores that sell herbs weren’t causing a commotion and that he didn’t see the harm in selling the product.
“We are just normal people,” he said. “We aren’t trying to hurt anyone.”
— edited by Ally Shaw
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Comments
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Hospitalization? For what?!?
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Priorities....the government should learn some. Oh and the sherrif comparing the effects of alcohol and k2 is like comparing apples to oranges, ignorance is strong when the government tries to ban substances like k2. If they are worried about health issues concerning k2 why not just legalize marijuana, which has been proven to be way more safe than any legal drug i.e. Alcohol or tobacco. Oh well, people will just buy weed instead from a sketchy drug dealer.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Why does any sane individual feel the need to alter their perceptions with crap?
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
"Sane" individuals invented the atomic bomb and multiple other weapons of mass destruction that resulted in the deaths of over 100 million men women and children during the 20th century. Maybe they need to have their "perceptions" altered a little bit before they kill us all.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
All I know - if you get drunk and drive, you go 90MPH and kill yourself and a family. If you smoke and drive, you go 10MPH and pull over laughing, and then find stale M&M's in your car to eat.
Also, from the dealers I know in NE Kansas - K2 has done more to hurt the black market drug trade than 10 years of DEA action. People are buying cheaper, legal K2 instead of dealing with shady characters and questionable quality weed. Do we really want to outlaw this - and push people back towards drug dealers?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Atomic bombs and weapons of mass destruction killed 100 million people?!!
Also: Legalize marijuana.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
I just wanted to put out there, what about the people that can not drink. but then have to go around and hear how drunk and stupid someone acted the night before. besides the point that achol is life threating if you stop useing it. where as K2 has no proven long term effects. instead of taxing it to help us as a counrty we will just throw some more people in jail so we can pay for them to live in a cell because they wanted a break just like all you acholics.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Legalize Marijuana. Tax it like booze or cigarettes. Generate new streams of revenue for the state.
Oh wait, we can't do that here in Kansas because Jesus doesn't like it when we get high. He says it's okay to get drunk and run into a telephone/utility pole though, which happened TWICE here in town last night.
Think theocracies only exist in Saudi Arabia? Look at the Kansas Legislature....
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
"Hospitalization? For what?!?" In the case that I saw, some kid took xanax and roxycodone then smoked K2. Now, I am not a doctor, but I believe the uneducated mixing of chemicals in the human body qualifies as "retarded" and should probably not be done by high school-kids or high-school kids.
As far as the other things the esteemed Dr. Jeremy Morris has asserted: http://www.desotoexplorer.com/news/2010/jan/12/joco-lawmaker-takes-aim-k2/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JWH-073 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JWH-018
Summary: the "super-weed" concern comes from a) longer lasting effects of JWH-018 + the quintuple effect on one of the cannabinoid receptors of JWH-073. They have been banned in a few countries in Europe. On the other hand, some things banned in Europe are legal here: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/7-foods-banned-europe-available-us.php
So whatever, just educate yourselves.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
This is ALL political. It has nothing to do with dangers of, or safety of. Its obvious BIG Pharmacy has deep pockets and the state politicians are in that pocket. The challenge the public has, is to stand up for what they want. If there is a demand, which the line outside and around the corner at Sacred Journey shows then there will always be a supply, legal or not. And yes this is not tested, that they tell us. Why the rush to illegalize it before testing it? Seems backwards. Everyone has seen the hypocritical endless BIG pharmacy commercialization of countless drugs with endless side effects including DEATH. This is legal now, so why is the police involved? They come in to play with enforcment after legislation, not before! Their oath states that they are at the will of the public and that their "political" views are not to be portrayed to the public. As far as Sgt. Steve Lewis comparing the effects of this K2 too the ill effects of alcohol, plainly showing his disregard for his oath by slandering a still unstudied substance to push his own political agenda. Saying that: "This substance should be taken out of the hands of the public!" I think the choice should be taken out of the hands of the Kansas Government, who should focus on school deficits! Final Thought::::: Why does everything in our life have to be deemed either completely safe, or backed by a Large Corporation that is profiting off of its legality to stay legal? Its hard not to feel like liberty is being sacrificed for Security/Safety. I for One choose Liberty!
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are running ads all day long on television for their drugs and the listing of the possible side effects of these drugs takes up over half of the freaking commercial! While I think a ban is ridiculous and highly hypocritical, I do think people need to wise up. This website warns of k2 incense counterfeiters, http://www.k2incense.org but you KNOW there has to be more than that.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
I most definitely feel there should be age restrictions, as there are, with tobacco and alcohol products, but really, what do they hope to accomplish by banning these chemicals? These guys claim to have k2 incense products that are legal in every single state, http://www.k2incense.net so you see, these bans aren't so effective are they?
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Hmmm. They don't care about the American public in the least. They started banning K2 and other herbal incense products long before they actually started research on any possible side effects they may have. Please don't be fooled into thinking they care about our well-being. If that were so, they would just tear down the corrupt FDA and take out Big Pharma as they are the biggest toxin pushers! Provided there are age restrictions, if someone wants some k2 herb, who are you to tell them that they can't have it? If someone wants to, they will buy k2 smoke whether it's legal or not as that is what happens with anything else that is unjustly and ridiculously prohibited. K2 incense will be no different. Plus, the formulas are constantly changing. http://www.herbalk2incense.com offers several products that are legal all over the world.
Bills in the Kansas Legislature could make K2 illegal
Legislators would be better off legalizing marijuana. If marijuana were made legal, there would not be this void that needed filled and which is being filled with unregulated chemicals which really have no research done on them. This hunt that lawmakers and law enforcement are on is one which will never come to an end. They can ban k2 incense blends all they want, but places like http://www.buyherbalincense.com offer legal everywhere herbal incense blends. People will buy k2 incense for as long as there are legal options.
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