PETTIS COUNTY SEEKS BAN ON HERBAL INCENSE K2

Pettis County commissioners will consider a proposed ordinance Monday
to ban the sale and possession of a substance thought to be similar to
marijuana.

Greene County doesn't have any plans in the near-term to look at a
ban.

K2 is an herbal incense that, when smoked, is thought to have the same
chemical effect on the brain as marijuana.

A bill working its way through the General Assembly would ban the
substance, but Pettis County Presiding Commissioner Rusty Kahrs said
the commission is concerned for the health of its citizens and wants
to get a ban in place more quickly.

"It takes months sometimes for state laws to be passed and then it
takes even longer for them to be signed by the governor and go into
effect," Kahrs said. "If there's not an emergency clause, some of
those laws won't go into effect until fall. You'll be going through an
entire summer season when people could be at risk."

If the ordinance is approved at Monday's commission meeting, the ban
would go into effect immediately.

Greene County Presiding Commissioner David Coonrod said a ban on K2,
or Spice -- another brand -- has not come up in commission
discussions.

He said the commission generally looks to Sheriff